I Love Kanjiしょうがない (shouganai)
しょうがない is a Japanese い-adjective meaning “there's no (other) way”. It is usually written in kana. It appears in JLPT N2 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.
- Reading
- しょうがない
- Romaji
- shouganai
- Word class
- い-adjective
- Level
- JLPT N2 (unofficial)
Meaning
- there's no (other) way · expression, い-adjective · usually written in kana
- cannot be helped; unavoidable; inevitable; (there's) nothing one can do; having no choice · expression, い-adjective · usually written in kana
- it's no use (doing); pointless; useless; no good; insufficient · expression, い-adjective · usually written in kana · oft. as 〜てもしょうがない
- hopeless (person); annoying; troublesome; awful · expression, い-adjective · usually written in kana
- cannot stand it; unbearable; cannot help (doing, feeling); dying (to do) · expression, い-adjective · usually written in kana · as 〜てしょうがない or 〜でしょうがない
Example sentences
Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.
Conjugation of しょうがない
い-adjective. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.
| Form | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Present | しょうがない | しょうがない shouganai |
| Negative | しょうがなくない | しょうがなくない shouganakunai |
| Past | しょうがなかった | しょうがなかった shouganakatta |
| Negative past | しょうがなくなかった | しょうがなくなかった shouganakunakatta |
| Te-form | しょうがなくて | しょうがなくて shouganakute |
| Adverb (~ku) | しょうがなく | しょうがなく shouganaku |
| Conditional (~ba) | しょうがなければ | しょうがなければ shouganakereba |
Source: JMdict entry 1305510 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.