Translation guide
How to express compensating for a mistake, shortcoming, loss, or absence in Japanese, organized by what is being made up for.
To atone for an error or make amends for something you did wrong.
A general, natural way to say you will compensate for a mistake or inconvenience, often by doing something extra.
To make up for being late, I'll treat you to lunch.
To atone or make amends, often with a sense of moral compensation. Used for serious mistakes or sins.
He worked hard to make up for his mistake.
Literally 'can be recovered', used in negative form to say something cannot be made up for.
Often used in the negative: 取り返しがつかない (cannot be undone/made up for).
This mistake cannot be made up for.
To offset something missing or insufficient, such as lack of experience, lost time, or a disadvantage.
To supplement or compensate for a lack or deficiency. Very common and versatile.
Make up for lack of experience with effort.
Loanword from English 'cover', used casually to mean compensating for a weakness or covering for someone.
The team made up for his mistake.
To do something to compensate for time away from someone or something.
To provide something good that compensates for previous suffering or inconvenience.
補う (おぎなう) is for supplementing a lack or deficiency (skill, ability, resource). 埋め合わせる (うめあわせる) is for compensating a loss or inconvenience (time, money, emotional gap). 埋め合わせ is often used with する (をする) as a noun phrase.
Make up for the lack of funds with donations.
I gave a present to make up for being late.
The English phrase 'make up for' cannot be directly translated word-for-word. Avoid literal translations like 作る上げるため (つくるあげるため). Use the appropriate Japanese expression based on context.
How can I make up for my mistake?
She tried to make up for her lack of experience with enthusiasm.
We need to make up for lost time.
She makes up for her short height with speed.
To make up for a loss or deficit, often used for time, money, or emotional gaps.
It's hard to make up for lost time.
To make up for not being able to come yesterday, I came early today.
Let's make up for the last failure with this success.