also: おもてうら
表裏する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 表裏する | 表裏しない |
| Polite | 表裏します | 表裏しません |
| Past polite | 表裏しました | 表裏しませんでした |
| Past | 表裏した | 表裏しなかった |
| Te-form | 表裏して | 表裏しないで |
| Desire | 表裏したい | 表裏したくない |
| Potential | 表裏できる | 表裏できない |
| Passive | 表裏される | 表裏されない |
| Causative | 表裏させる | 表裏させない |
| Causative passive | 表裏させられる | 表裏させられない |
| Volitional | 表裏しよう | |
| Polite volitional | 表裏しましょう | |
| Imperative | 表裏しろ | 表裏するな |
| Conditional | 表裏すれば | 表裏しなければ |
| Tara conditional | 表裏したら | 表裏しなかったら |
front and back; both sides; inside and outside
Literal physical or spatial meaning: the two opposite sides of an object, or the interior and exterior. Often used in set phrases like 表裏一体 (two sides of the same coin).
It's hard to tell the front and back of this paper.
Let's play a game guessing heads or tails of the coin.
noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb
duplicity; double-dealing; two-facedness
Only with reading ひょうり
Figurative use, restricted to the reading ひょうり. Describes a person whose outward behavior contradicts their inner thoughts or intentions. Often used with ある or する to describe such behavior.
There is duplicity in his words and actions.
That person is trustworthy because they are not two-faced.
It's hard to tell the front from the back of this shirt.
I put my socks on with the front and back reversed.
There's a discrepancy between what he says and what he actually does.
She has a straightforward personality without any duplicity, and everyone trusts her.