JLPT N4 · い-adjective

苦い (nigai)

苦い (にがい, nigai) is a Japanese い-adjective meaning “bitter (taste)”. It appears in JLPT N4 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: にがい
Romaji: nigai
Word class: い-adjective
Level: JLPT N4 (unofficial)

Meaning

bitter (taste) · い-adjective
sour (expression, look); bitter; displeased; unpleasant · い-adjective
bitter (e.g. experience); painful; distressing; hard; trying · い-adjective

Example sentences

私は苦いものが好きだ。

I have a fancy for bitter things.

Tatoeba #157543

このビールは苦い。

This beer tastes bitter.

Tatoeba #223286

このコーヒーは苦い味がする。

This coffee tastes bitter.

Tatoeba #223800

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

Conjugation of 苦い

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

Form	Japanese	Reading
Present	苦い	にがい nigai
Negative	苦くない	にがくない nigakunai
Past	苦かった	にがかった nigakatta
Negative past	苦くなかった	にがくなかった nigakunakatta
Te-form	苦くて	にがくて nigakute
Adverb (~ku)	苦く	にがく nigaku
Conditional (~ba)	苦ければ	にがければ nigakereba

Kanji in 苦い

苦

suffering, trial, worryク・くる.しい・-ぐる.しい · 8 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 苦い.

苦痛くつうpain苦労くろうtrouble苦手にがてpoor (at)苦しいくるしいpainful苦しむくるしむto suffer苦くpain苦情くじょうcomplaint苦心くしんpainsご苦労様ごくろうさまthank you (for your hard work)見苦しいみぐるしいunsightly無茶苦茶むちゃくちゃnonsensical

Source: JMdict entry 1244310 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.