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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "far" in Japanese?
遠い
tooi
In Japanese, "far" is 遠い (tooi).
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Pronunciation
Too-i, two syllables, the long 'too' held twice as long as a short o, stretching the word the way distance stretches space.
Writing and usage
遠い is written using kanji. It's a adjective, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.
Example sentence
駅は歩くには遠すぎます。
eki ha aruku niha toosu gimasu.
The station is too far to walk.
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How to remember 遠い
Tooi literally sounds stretched out, too-oo-i, like the distance itself is being drawn out far away.
Related words
- hard 硬い katai
- smooth 滑らかな nameraka na
- rough ざらざらした zarazarashita
- loud うるさい urusai
- thick 厚い atsui
- thin 薄い usui
- fresh 新鮮 shinsen
- rotten 腐った kusatsu ta
- ripe 熟した jukushi ta
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about 遠い
How do you pronounce 遠い?
Too-i, two syllables, the long 'too' held twice as long as a short o, stretching the word the way distance stretches space.
Is 遠い formal or casual?
遠い is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.
How is 遠い written in Japanese?
遠い is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as tooi.
Where can I practice Japanese words for free?
You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"Far" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.
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