い-adjective
辛いつらい
tsurai辛い (つらい, tsurai) — painful — is an い-adjective: つらかった (past), つらくない (negative), つらくて (te-form), つらいです (polite).
It is usually written in kana: つらい rather than 辛い. It also means bitter; heart-breaking.
How つらい conjugates · い-adjective
Drop the final い, then add the ending.
Every form is built on the stem つら. The one that isn't: the polite present, which is the whole word plus です.
つらい
dropsstem + ending
つらかったつらかったpast · It was painful.
つらくないつらくないnegative · It isn't painful.
つらくてつらくてte-form · It's painful and …
つらければつらければif · If it's painful, ...
つらいですつらいですpolite presentkeeps the い
Every い-adjective works this way. The one exception is いい, which conjugates from its older form よい.
PLAIN
| Form | Conjugation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| present | つらい 辛い tsurai | |
| past It was painful. | つらかった 辛かった tsurakatta | |
| negative It isn't painful. | つらくない 辛くない tsurakunai | |
| te-form It's painful and … | つらくて 辛くて tsurakute | |
| past negative It wasn't painful. | つらくなかった 辛くなかった tsurakunakatta | |
| cond. ば If it's painful, ... | つらければ 辛ければ tsurakereba | |
| cond. たら If it turns out painful, ... | つらかったら 辛かったら tsurakattara |
POLITE
| Form | Conjugation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| present | つらいです 辛いです tsuraidesu | |
| past It was painful. | つらかったです 辛かったです tsurakattadesu | |
| negative It isn't painful. | つらくないです 辛くないです tsurakunaidesu | |
| past negative It wasn't painful. | つらくなかったです 辛くなかったです tsurakunakattadesu |