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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "old" in Japanese?
古い
furui
In Japanese, "old" is 古い (furui).
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Pronunciation
Fu-ru-i, three syllables, said with a soft flapped r in the middle, quite different from the English 'furry'.
Writing and usage
古い 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
この家はとても古い。
kono ie hatotemo furui.
The house is very old.
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How to remember 古い
Furui sounds like 'furry' — an old, furry blanket that's seen better days.
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 古い
How do you pronounce 古い?
Fu-ru-i, three syllables, said with a soft flapped r in the middle, quite different from the English 'furry'.
Is 古い formal or casual?
古い 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 古い written in Japanese?
古い is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as furui.
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.
"Old" in other languages
Curated by Jack 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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