JLPT N3 · い-adjective

硬い (katai)

硬い (かたい, katai) is a Japanese い-adjective meaning “hard; solid”. It appears in JLPT N3 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: かたい
Romaji: katai
Word class: い-adjective
Level: JLPT N3 (unofficial)

Meaning

hard; solid; tough · い-adjective · esp. 固い and 堅い for wood, 硬い for metal and stone
stiff; tight; wooden; unpolished (e.g. writing) · い-adjective
strong; firm (not viscous or easily moved) · い-adjective
safe; steady; honest; steadfast · い-adjective
obstinate; stubborn · い-adjective

Example sentences

卵は硬くゆでてください。

Boil the eggs hard.

Tatoeba #78488

このふたは固くて取れないよ。

This lid is too tight for me to open.

Tatoeba #223250

その機械の骨組みは堅くなければならない。

The frame of the machine should be rigid.

Tatoeba #211556

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

Conjugation of 硬い

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

Form	Japanese	Reading
Present	硬い	かたい katai
Negative	硬くない	かたくない katakunai
Past	硬かった	かたかった katakatta
Negative past	硬くなかった	かたくなかった katakunakatta
Te-form	硬くて	かたくて katakute
Adverb (~ku)	硬く	かたく kataku
Conditional (~ba)	硬ければ	かたければ katakereba

Kanji in 硬い

硬

stiff, hardコウ・かた.い · 12 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 硬い.

硬貨こうかcoin強硬きょうこうfirm

Source: JMdict entry 1257110 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.