In Japanese, emotion adjectives are words you can use to describe your emotions, like 嬉しい[ureshii](happy) or 悲しい[kanashii](sad), but it also includes some other kinds of feelings like bodily sensations.
Though these take all the same endings as other Japanese adjectives, they follow some special grammatical rules when you use them in a sentence. For example, you’ll usually only use Japanese emotion adjectives to describe your own emotions (✅“I’m happy”) not the emotions of others (❌“He’s happy”).
In this post, we’ll talk about which adjectives qualify as emotion adjectives, which particles to use to mark the experiencer of the emotion vs. the cause, and we’ll discuss how you can describe the emotions of others, without using emotion adjectives. Ready to have a look? Let’s see if you can take it without becoming too emotional!
In Japanese, emotion adjectives, or 感情形容詞[kanjō keiyōshi], are a group of words that describe what a person feels or senses. Many of the adjectives in this group describe emotions, like “happy,” “sad,” or “envious,” but some also describe bodily sensations such as “in pain,” “sleepy,” and “tired.”
Often you can translate these using an English emotion or sensation adjective, as with the words below.
Emotions | Translation |
|---|---|
嬉しい ureshii | happy, glad |
寂しい sabishii | lonely |
うらやましい urayamashii | envious |
悲しい kanashii | sad |
怖い kowai | scared |
懐かしい natsukashii | nostalgic |
Bodily Sensations | Translation |
|---|---|
痛い itai | painful, hurting |
だるい darui | tired |
まぶしい mabushii | dazzled |
かゆい kayui | itchy |
眠い nemui | sleepy |
けむたい kemutai | smoky |
However, some Japanese emotion adjectives represent feelings or emotions that, in English, you would usually translate using a verb. For example:
Emotion adjectives | Translation |
|---|---|
欲しい hoshii | wanting |
好き suki | liking |
嫌い kirai | disliking, hating |
All three types of emotion adjectives, though, follow the same grammatical rules, so they form a single group in Japanese.
お会いできて嬉しいです。
Oaidekite ureshii desu.
I’m happy to meet you.
今日はすごく眠い。
Kyō wa sugoku nemui.
I’m very sleepy today.
冬は寒いから嫌いだ。
Fuyu wa samui kara kirai da.
I hate winter because it’s cold.
In Japanese, emotion adjectives, which describe our internal experience of the world, are often contrasted with other sorts of adjectives, which describe the world outside us. These other adjectives are called attributive adjectives, or 属性形容詞(zokusei keiyōshi), because they describe features or attributes of , like their size, shape, color, age, texture, taste, sound, smell, personality, and more.
Here are some examples of Japanese attributive adjectives. Notice that these are words you would use to describe people, things, or ideas around you.
Attributive adjectives | Translation |
|---|---|
大きい ōkii | large, big |
白い shiroi | white |
甘い amai | sweet |
きれい kirei | beautiful, clean |
有名 yūmei | famous |
親切 shinsetsu | kind |
In Japanese, there is some overlap between emotion adjectives and attributive adjectives. Some adjectives can be used either to describe someone’s internal experience of an emotion or to describe a trait of someone or something. Can you see the difference between the emotion use and attributive use of the adjectives below?
Adjective | Emotion Adjective | Attributive Adjective |
|---|---|---|
寂しい sabishii lonely | 一人じゃ寂しい。 Hitori ja sabishii. I feel lonely being alone. | 寂しい風景が広がっている。 Sabishii fūkei ga hirogatte iru. A lonely landscape is stretched out before me. |
怖い kowai scared | 怖いから一緒に来て。 Kowai kara isshoni kite. I’m scared; please come with me. | 昨日すごく怖い映画を見た。 Kinō sugoku kowai eiga o mita. I watched a very scary movie yesterday. |
In Japanese, emotion adjectives take all the same endings as attributive adjectives, but there are some additional grammar rules to keep in mind when you’re using them to build a sentence. To explain these differences we’ll look first at the experiencer of the feeling, then at whatever causes the feeling. Let’s take a look!
The person who experiences an emotion described by an emotion adjective is generally marked by the topic marker は[wa].
私は悲しい。
Watashi wa kanashii.
I’m sad.
There are a few restrictions on who the experiencer of a Japanese emotion adjective can be.
Restriction #1: The experiencer must be a person or a human-like being (such as Paddington the talking bear).
Restriction #2: In the non-past tense, the experiencer is almost always the speaker (“I”). In Japanese, we don’t talk about emotional adjectives that other people are currently experiencing.
✅ 私は悲しい。
Watashi wa kanashii.
I’m sad.
❌ あなたは嬉しい。
Anata wa ureshii.
You are happy.
❌ ジョンは眠い。
Jon wa nemui.
John is sleepy.
Because the “I” is really the only noun that these adjectives apply in this tense, the pronoun itself is often omitted and only implied in Japanese sentences.
とても嬉しいです。
Totemo ureshii desu.
(I) am very happy.
Some adjectives for emotions such as 好き[suki](liking) and 嫌い[kirai](hating) can take the second or third-person subject in statements as in the examples below:
✅ 君は本当にコーヒーが好きだね。
Kimi wa hontōni kōhii ga suki da ne.
You really like coffee, don’t you?
✅ ロンはクモが嫌いだ。
Ron wa kumo ga kirai da.
Ron hates spiders.
Restriction #3: In questions, emotion adjectives generally only describe the listener (“you”). The pronoun is often omitted or implied here as well
これ、欲しい？
Kore, hoshii?
Do you want this?
When using emotion adjectives, the noun or circumstance that causes a feeling is usually marked by the particle が[ga]. Sometimes it’s easier to think of the cause of a feeling as the “target” of an emotion, but they’re marked the same way.
明日の天気が心配だ。
Ashita no tenki ga shinpai da.
I’m worried about tomorrow’s weather.
Let’s look at some more examples. Notice that, in all of these, the experiencer is omitted because we can assume it’s the speaker.
新しいスマホが欲しい。
Atarashii sumaho ga hoshii.
I want a new smartphone.
才能のある人がうらやましい。
Sainō no aru hito ga urayamashii.
I envy people with talents.
子供のころ住んでいた町が懐かしい。
Kodomo no koro sundeita machi ga natsukashii.
I feel nostalgic about the town I used to live in as a child.
努力を認められたことが嬉しい。
Doryoku o mitomerareta koto ga ureshii.
I’m glad about being recognized for my efforts.
Depending on the context, you can sometimes replace が[ga] with the contrast marker は[wa] or the similarity marker も[mo] like this:
豆腐は好きだが、納豆は嫌いだ。
Tōfu wa suki da ga, nattō wa kirai da.
I like tofu, but I hate fermented soybeans.
スポーツではテニスが一番好きです。でもゴルフも好きですよ。
Supōtsu de wa tenisu ga ichiban suki desu. Demo gorufu mo suki desu yo.
Among sports I like tennis best. But I like golf too.
When using an emotion adjective that represents a bodily sensation, the noun marked by が[ga] will often be a more physical cause of a feeling.
バラのとげが痛かった。
Bara no toge ga itakatta.
The thorns of the roses hurt me.
朝日がまぶしい！カーテン閉めて。
Asahi ga mabushii! Kāten shimete.
I’m dazzled by the morning sun! Close the curtain.
When a bodily sensation affects a particular part of the body (e.g. an itchy nose), that body part is also marked by the particle が[ga]. For example:
頭が痛い。
Atama ga itai.
My head hurts.
背中がかゆい。
Senaka ga kayui.
My back is itchy.
体がだるい。
Karada ga darui.
My body feels tired.
You can think of it this way: something external is causing your body part to cause you to feel a sensation. Both causes are marked by が[ga].
When the circumstance that causes a feeling is represented by a complete clause, instead of a noun phrase, you don’t need to include が[ga].
だれか手伝ってくれたら嬉しいんだけど。
Dareka tetsudatte kuretara ureshii nda kedo.
I’d be happy if someone could help me.
みんなの前で転んで恥ずかしかった。
Min’na no mae de koronde hazukashikatta.
I was embarrassed that I fell down in front of everyone.
Now that we have found out how to describe how we feel or sense, let’s move on to discover how we can describe someone else’s emotions and senses in the next section!
As we said above, in Japanese we don’t generally describe someone else’s feelings using plain emotion adjectives. Instead we’ll need to use other methods. The sections below will outline some methods you can use to describe how someone else feels in Japanese.
You can use emotion adjectives to describe someone else’s feelings if you turn them into verbs with the structure adjective stem + 〜がる[garu]. The exact translation varies, but it conveys a meaning of “to show signs of (feeling).”
Emotion adjective | Verb with がる[garu] |
|---|---|
怖い kowai scared | 怖がる kowagaru to be afraid |
欲しい hoshii wanting | 欲しがる hoshigaru to want |
嫌 iya disagreeable | 嫌がる iyagaru to detest |
痛い itai in pain | 痛がる itagaru to complain of pain |
When using “...garu” verbs, the cause of someone’s feeling becomes the object of the verb and is marked by the particle を[o].
ロンはクモを怖がる.
Ron wa kumo o kowagaru.
Ron is afraid of spiders.
Just like other verbs, verbs for emotional reactions can be put into other forms as well, such as the -te iru form. You might use this form to discuss someone’s active emotional state, rather than their general feelings about something.
メアリーは新しい車を欲しがっている.
Mearii wa atarashii kuruma o hoshigatteiru.
Mary wants a new car.
Not all adjectives for emotions have verb counterparts. For example, 好き[suki](to like), 嫌い[kirai](to hate), or 眠い[nemui](sleepy) can’t be turned into “-garu” verbs. But don’t worry, we have more methods we can use for these adjectives. Read on!
Japanese has two closely-related adjectives which can be translated as “sleepy”: 眠い[nemui] and 眠たい[nemutai]. In general, 眠たい[nemutai] sounds more like you’re trying to resist falling asleep.
If you’re talking about your own sleepiness, you can use these two adjectives more-or-less interchangeably. But only 眠たい[nemutai] can become a “-garu” verb:
子供が眠たがっているので、もう帰ります。
Kodomo ga nemutagatteiru node, mō kaerimasu.
We are going home now since our children are feeling sleepy.
In Japanese, we don’t generally assert that someone does feel a certain way, but it is fine to state that someone seems like they feel a certain way. You can clarify that you’ve determined someone’s feelings using evidence by adding endings like 〜そうだ[sōda] or 〜らしい[rashii] to the emotion adjective.
Use 〜そうだ[sōda] in a situation when you personally witnessed evidence of someone’s emotion, in a situation where you might use “seem,” “look,” or “apparently,” in English.
adjective stem
嬉しそうだね。どうしたの？
Ureshisoo da ne. Dō shita no?
You look happy, don’t you? What happened?
Use 〜らしい[rashii] in a situation where you’ve heard reports that someone feels some way. Notice this ending is added to the dictionary form, not the stem!
adjective stem (dictionary form)
ジョンは眠いらしいよ。
Jon wa nemui rashii yo.
I’ve heard that John is feeling sleepy, you know.
You’ll often hear 〜らしい translated as “apparently” or “seems.”
We can also describe someone else’s emotions and senses using an explanatory form such as 〜のだ[noda], 〜んだ[nda], 〜なのだ[nanoda], 〜なんだ[nanda], 〜のだろう[nodarō], 〜んだろう[ndarō], or the polite version of one of these. The translation varies.
ケイティは日本が大好きなんだ。
Keitii wa nihon ga daisukinanda.
(The fact is that) Katie loves Japan.
妹さんはきっとあなたがうらやましいんだろう。
Imōtosan wa anata ga urayamashii ndarō ne.
(The thing is) your younger sister must be feeling envious of you.
In creative writing, especially in novels, we can describe the third-person subject’s emotions and senses using the past affirmative form of an emotion adjective.
トムは寂しかった。友達が欲しかった。
Tomu wa sabishikatta. Tomodachi ga hoshikatta.
Tom felt lonely. He wanted friends.
This is possible in creative writing because we (as the writer) can freely get into our characters’ minds and describe their emotions as if they are our own. This method, therefore, doesn’t work in everyday conversations – unless you are an excellent mind-reader and are keeping a running commentary!
In this article, we’ve introduced you to some important rules for describing emotions in Japanese. Remember these points!
You’ll mostly use Japanese emotion adjectives to describe your own feelings, rather than other people’s emotions.
Mark the nouns like this:
The person experiencing the feelings is marked by は[wa] or is dropped (assuming it’s the speaker).
The cause of the feeling is marked by が[ga].
To describe someone else’s feelings use one of these methods instead of an emotion adjective:
Make the adjective a verb → adjective stem + がる[garu].
Use “hearsay” expressions like 〜そうだ[sōda] or 〜らしい[rashii].
Use an explanatory form like 〜のだ[noda].
In creative writing, just use the past assertive form.
Ready to practice? Check out our Japanese emotion adjectives activities. Or, if you’d like to learn more, check out one of our other posts on Japanese adjectives. Happy learning!
