JLPT N1 · い-adjective

素早い (subayai)

素早い (すばやい, subayai) is a Japanese い-adjective meaning “quick; swift”. It appears in JLPT N1 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: すばやい
Romaji: subayai
Word class: い-adjective
Level: JLPT N1 (unofficial)

Meaning

quick; swift; nimble; agile · い-adjective
quick (understanding, judgement, etc.); alert; prompt · い-adjective

Example sentences

悪い知らせはすばやく伝わる。

Bad news travels fast.

Tatoeba #191463

そのクモは素早い反撃をする。

The spider responds with a swift attack.

Tatoeba #213257

彼は素早くフランス語を習得した。

He acquired French quickly.

Tatoeba #102889

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Conjugation of 素早い

い-adjective. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

Form	Japanese	Reading
Present	素早い	すばやい subayai
Negative	素早くない	すばやくない subayakunai
Past	素早かった	すばやかった subayakatta
Negative past	素早くなかった	すばやくなかった subayakunakatta
Te-form	素早くて	すばやくて subayakute
Adverb (~ku)	素早く	すばやく subayaku
Conditional (~ba)	素早ければ	すばやければ subayakereba

Kanji in 素早い

素

elementary, principle, nakedソ・ス・もと · 10 strokes

早

early, fastソウ・サッ・はや.い・はや · 6 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 素早い.

素晴らしいすばらしいwonderful素もとorigin酸素さんそoxygen (O)要素ようそelement素人しろうとamateur水素すいそhydrogen (H)素直すなおobedient素質そしつmakings (of)元素げんそelement簡素かんそsimple素材そざいingredient素朴そぼくsimple炭素たんそcarbon (C)質素しっそsimple

Source: JMdict entry 1397310 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.