かわいそう (kawaisou) Japanese meaning: pitiful | Kotomora雨
に
濡
れ
て
いる
子
犬
が
かわいそう
だっ
た
。
The puppy getting wet in the rain looked pitiful.
He was crying alone, and I really felt sorry for him.
Usage patterns
〈人〉がかわいそうsomeone/something is pitiable, poor thing
The child crying alone was pitiful.
〈人〉をかわいそうに思うto feel sorry for someone
Feeling sorry for her, I spoke to her.
かわいそうな〈人〉a pitiful/poor (person, animal, etc.)
That dog was a poor abandoned animal.
〈事〉でかわいそうpitiful because of ~
I want to help the children who are suffering from illness.
愛しい
N1
かわいそう is the common modern word for feeling pity, while 愛しい in its rare archaic sense conveys a similar tender pity mixed with affection.
Don't confuse with
可哀想 looks and sounds similar to 可愛らしい but means 'pitiful, poor thing', an entirely different meaning that learners often confuse.
可哀想 looks and sounds similar to 可愛い but means 'pitiful, poor thing', evoking sympathy rather than charm.
Usage7%
ateji (phonetic kanji usage)
Mixed kana-kanji ateji form; rarely used.
可愛そう
Ateji form using 可愛; can be confused with 可愛い (かわいい).
