易しい (やさしい, yasashii) Japanese meaning: easy | Kotomora

易やさしい

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Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

易しい · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	易やさしい	易やさしくない
Polite	易やさしいです	易やさしくないですalso 易やさしくありません
Past polite	易やさしかったです	易やさしくなかったですalso 易やさしくありませんでした
Past	易やさしかった	易やさしくなかった
Te-form	易やさしくて	易やさしくなくて
Adverbial	易やさしく
Conditional	易やさしければ	易やさしくなければ
Tara conditional	易やさしかったら	易やさしくなかったら

Meanings

i-adjective

easy; simple; plain

usually written using kana alone

Describes something that is not difficult, or a problem/task that can be handled without much effort. Antonym: 難しい (difficult).

Antonyms: 難しい (むずかしい)

Kanji

易easy, ready to, simple

Related words· 6

簡かん単たんN5
簡単 is a na-adjective/noun for 'simple, easy' used broadly for tasks and explanations, while 易しい is an i-adjective often used for problems, texts, or language that are not difficult.
容よう易いN3
容易 is a more formal, written-style word for 'easy, simple' often used in business or technical contexts, whereas 易しい is the everyday i-adjective.
平へい易い
平易 specifically describes language or writing as 'plain and easy to understand', a narrower use than the general-purpose 易しい.
やすいN1
易しい is the everyday, common word for 'easy', while 易い is a more literary or old-fashioned variant used mainly in fixed expressions.

Show 2 more

たやすいN1
易しい is the common, general adjective for 'easy' (e.g. an easy exam), while たやすい is a slightly more formal or emphatic way to say something is effortless.
ちょろい
易しい describes something easy in a gentle, approachable way, whereas ちょろい stresses that a task is trivially or contemptibly easy.

Opposites

難むずかしいN5
difficult; hard; complicated · serious; tricky; hard to handle · not feasible; difficult to do; not possible · fussy; particular; hard to please · sullen; glum; serious-looking · dirty; unclean; detestable · unpleasant; uncomfortable; creepy
至し難なん
易しい is the common adjective for 'easy', contrasting with 至難's sense of near-impossible difficulty.

Don't confuse with

優やさしいN5
優しい (same reading) means 'kind, gentle' and describes personality, while 易しい means 'easy, simple' and describes tasks or difficulty level.

Word family

生なま易やさしい
simple; easy; not difficult

Written forms

易やさしいUsage99%
Kanji form; usually written in kana.
やさしいUsage1%
Kana spelling is the usual written form for this word.

Etymology

The kanji 易 carries the meaning 'easy' or 'simple'. The reading やさしい is a native Japanese word. The historical derivation is uncertain, but the word has been used with this meaning since early Japanese.

Meanings

Usage patterns