弱い
よわい · yowai
Weak, frail, delicate, tender, unskilled, weak (wine)
Other ways to say “weak” in Japanese →
falls after mora 2 · what is pitch accent?
How it’s used
Used in everyday conversation to describe physical weakness, lack of skill, or fragility—both literal and figurative.
Example sentences
彼は体が弱いです。
He has a weak body.
Nihoner
私は数学が弱い。
I am weak at math.
Nihoner
Say it out loud
Press the microphone and say 弱い (よわい)
Your browser’s speech recognition checks whether it understood you (in Chrome, Google processes the audio). Nihoner doesn’t record anything.
Do you really know it?
Learn its family in 60 seconds
6 words that share a kanji with 弱い. Tap each card — then save only the ones that are new to you.
Your memory hook
Link the sound or the kanji to something you already know — a personal hook is one of the fastest ways to make a word stick. It’s saved to your free account with the word.
Kanji in this word
Can you write it? Draw kanji from memory →
Conjugation
| Negative (ない形) | 弱くないよわくない |
| Past (た形) | 弱かったよわかった |
| Past negative (なかった) | 弱くなかったよわくなかった |
| Te-form (て形) | 弱くてよわくて |
| Adverb (副詞形) | 弱くよわく |
| Before a noun (連体形) | 弱いよわい |
| Ba-conditional (条件形) | 弱ければよわければ |
| Tara-conditional (たら形) | 弱かったらよわかったら |
| Become ~ (~なる) | 弱くなるよわくなる |
| Too ~ (~すぎる) | 弱すぎるよわすぎる |
Practise every form in the Conjugation Dojo →
Words that share a kanji
Questions
What does 弱い mean?
Weak, frail, delicate, tender, unskilled, weak (wine).
How do you pronounce 弱い?
よわい (yowai). Pitch accent: nakadaka — falls after mora 2. Press Listen above to hear it.
What JLPT level is 弱い?
JLPT N5 — beginner. See the JLPT N5 guide.
How do I remember 弱い?
Say it out loud with an example sentence, test yourself above, then save it to your deck: Nihoner brings it back just before you would forget it (spaced repetition).
Save your words
Create a free account and they will be waiting in your review deck — Nihoner brings each one back right before you would forget it.
Free · no card · your words are kept