How do you read 辛い?

辛い is read つらい (karai), with heiban pitch accent (flat).

How is 辛い used in a sentence?

Used for spicy-hot food or harsh words; as 'salty' only in set phrases like 辛い思いをする. このカレーはとても辛いです。 — This curry is very spicy.

How do you write 辛い in romaji?

辛い is written karai in romaji.

辛つらい

Q: What JLPT level is 辛い?

辛い is a JLPT N5 word (beginner).

つらい · karai

JLPT N5 › suffix ★ Studied by 6 learners

Spicy, hot

salty
harsh (criticism), severe (punishment), strict
painful, bitter, difficult, tough
painful, bitter, heart-breaking, difficult (emotionally)
tough, difficult, hard (usu. of situations)

Other ways to say “spicy” in Japanese →

Heiban

flat · what is pitch accent?

Test yourself

How it’s used

Used for spicy-hot food or harsh words; as 'salty' only in set phrases like 辛い思いをする.

Often confused with 鹹い (shio-karai), which means salty; 辛い primarily means spicy-hot.

Example sentences

このカレーはとても辛いです。

This curry is very spicy.

Nihoner

辛い物が苦手なんです。

I'm not good with spicy food.

Nihoner

この料理は辛いから、あまり食べられません。

このりょうりはからいから、あまりたべられません。

This dish is spicy, so I can't eat much.

Nihoner sentence bank

この料理は辛いから、あまり食べられない。

このりょうりはからいから、あまりたべられない。

Because this dish is spicy, I can't eat much.

Nihoner sentence bank

この料理は辛いだけでなく、旨味もある。

このりょうりはからいだけでなく、うまみもある。

This dish is not only spicy but also savory.

Nihoner sentence bank

Say it out loud

Press the microphone and say 辛い (つらい)

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5 words that share a kanji with 辛い. Tap each card — then save only the ones that are new to you.

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Kanji in this word

辛Spicy, Bitter, Hot 音しん訓から.い・つら.い JLPT N2 · 7 strokes

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Conjugation

Negative (ない形)	辛くないつらくない
Past (た形)	辛かったつらかった
Past negative (なかった)	辛くなかったつらくなかった
Te-form (て形)	辛くてつらくて
Adverb (副詞形)	辛くつらく
Before a noun (連体形)	辛いつらい
Ba-conditional (条件形)	辛ければつらければ
Tara-conditional (たら形)	辛かったらつらかったら
Become ~ (~なる)	辛くなるつらくなる
Too ~ (~すぎる)	辛すぎるつらすぎる

Practise every form in the Conjugation Dojo →

Words that share a kanji

辛いつらいpainful, heart-breaking 辛抱しんぼうpatience, endurance 香辛料こうしんりょうspices ～辛い～づらいhard to do ~塩辛いしおからいsalty (taste)

Questions

What does 辛い mean?

Spicy, hot. It can also mean: salty; harsh (criticism), severe (punishment), strict; painful, bitter, difficult, tough.

How do you pronounce 辛い?

つらい (karai). Pitch accent: heiban — flat. Press Listen above to hear it.

What JLPT level is 辛い?

JLPT N5 — beginner. See the JLPT N5 guide.

How do I remember 辛い?

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).