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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "rotten" in Japanese?
腐った
kusatsu ta
In Japanese, "rotten" is 腐った (kusatsu ta).
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Pronunciation
Ku-sat-ta, three syllables, the doubled 't' forces a hard little stop, almost mimicking a gag at the smell.
Writing and usage
腐った 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
リンゴは腐ってしまった。
ringo ha kusatsu teshimatta.
The apple had gone rotten.
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How to remember 腐った
Kusatta contains 'kusai' root meaning smelly — rotten food is exactly that, smelly and spoiled.
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
- ripe 熟した jukushi ta
- raw 生の uno
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about 腐った
How do you pronounce 腐った?
Ku-sat-ta, three syllables, the doubled 't' forces a hard little stop, almost mimicking a gag at the smell.
Is 腐った formal or casual?
腐った 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 腐った written in Japanese?
腐った is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as kusatsu ta.
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.
"Rotten" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
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