Copyright © 2026 Kotomora. All Rights Reserved.
ありがたい (arigatai) Japanese meaning: grateful | Kotomora
Common word› JLPT N2 › Freq. Frequency Top 5,000 Conjugation ありがたい · i-adjective
Form Positive Negative Dictionary ありがたい ありがたくない Polite ありがたいです ありがたくないです also ありがたくありません Past polite ありがたかったです ありがたくなかったです also ありがたくありませんでした Past ありがたかった ありがたくなかった Te-form ありがたくて ありがたくなくて Adverbial ありがたく Conditional ありがたければ ありがたくなければ Tara conditional ありがたかったら ありがたくなかったら
Report an issue with this page
です
。
I'm truly grateful that you helped me despite being busy.
Thankfully, the weather cleared up.
Usage patterns ありがたいことに fortunately; thankfully
Thankfully, no one was hurt in the accident.
〈 動どう 詞し 〉 ていただけるとありがたい I would appreciate it if you could ~
I would appreciate it if you could send me the materials.
〈 事こと 〉 をありがたく 思おも う to feel grateful for something
I feel grateful for my teacher's guidance.
〈 物もの 〉 をありがたく 頂ちょう 戴だい する to gratefully receive/accept something
I gratefully accept everyone's kind consideration.
Kanji 難 difficult, impossible, trouble Related words 感謝 is a noun/する-verb meaning 'gratitude' or 'to thank', while ありがたい is an adjective describing the feeling of being grateful or something that inspires gratitude.
助かる expresses relief that one has been helped or spared trouble, and often overlaps with ありがたい when thanking someone for assistance (助かります vs ありがたいです).
嬉しい simply means 'happy/glad' about something, whereas ありがたい specifically conveys thankfulness for a favor or fortunate circumstance.
ありがたい is the plain, everyday word for feeling grateful, whereas 恐縮 adds a formal sense of being overwhelmed or indebted by someone's favor.
Written forms ありがたい Usage 76%
Kana spelling is standard; usually written in kana.
有あり 難がた い Usage 14%
Abbreviated kanji spelling; rare and mostly encountered in older texts or signs.
有あ り 難がた い Usage 9%
Kanji spelling with okurigana; seen in formal or literary contexts but less common than kana.
アリガタイ Usage <1%
Etymology Derived from 有る (aru, 'to exist') + 難い (katai, 'difficult'), literally 'hard to exist' or 'rare', shifting to mean 'precious' and then 'grateful'. The kanji spellings reflect this origin, but the word is now usually written in kana.
