What does “chikara” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “chikara” often to mean ‘power’ in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word as it is sometimes used in Japanese movies, songs, novels, manga, anime, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail together with example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners understand “chikara” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “chikara”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “chikara”.
- chikara – 力 (ちから) : a noun meaning ‘power’, ‘strength’, or ‘ability’ in Japanese.
Native speakers use this noun to refer to something which someone has and utilizes to affect other people or things physically, mentally, or perhaps politically. So, this can work in more or less the same ways as the English nouns written above.
The definition and meanings of “chikara” are not that difficult, I think. Then, let me explain how to use this noun through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “power” in Japanese
watashi no kareshi wa totemo chikara ga aru – 私の彼氏はとても力がある (わたしのかれしはとてもちからがある)
My boyfriend has much power.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- no – の : a case particle used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, this is used after “watashi” to make its possessive case, “watashi no“, which means ‘my’ in Japanese.
- kareshi – 彼氏 (かれし) : a noun meaning ‘boyfriend’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works as a topic marker after “watashi no kareshi” to put a focus on it.
- totemo – とても : an adverb of degree meaning ‘much’, ‘very’, ‘so’, or such in Japanese.
- ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “chikara” to make the subject in the sentence.
- aru – ある : a verb meaning ‘to exist’, ‘to present’, ‘to have’, or just ‘to be’ in Japanese. In the example, this works to say that the speaker’s boyfriend has power.
This is a typical usage of “chikara”. In this example, it works together with the case particle, “ga”, to become the subject in the sentence. When we want to mean ‘power’ in Japanese, this noun is always a very good option.
The original meaning of the Japanese sentence is more like ‘for my boyfriend, there is much power’, but it can be translated as “my boyfriend has much power”. This sounds much more natural.
Example #2: another usage of “chikara”
boku wa mada chikara ga nai – 僕はまだ力がない (ぼくはまだちからがない)
I still don’t have power.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- boku – 僕 (ぼく) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese. This is used mainly by boys and young males.
- mada – まだ : an adverb meaning ‘still’ or such in Japanese.
- nai – ない : an i-adjective meaning ‘not to exist’, ‘not to present’, ‘not to have’, or ‘not to be’ in Japanese. In the example, this works to say that the speaker doesn’t have power.
This is another typical usage of “chikara”. In this example, it works together with “ga” and “nai” to mean ‘not to have power’ in Japanese.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “chikara” and how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- chikara – 力 (ちから) : a noun meaning ‘power’, ‘strength’, or ‘ability’ in Japanese. Native speakers use this noun to refer to something which someone has and utilizes to affect other people or things physically, mentally, or perhaps politically. So, this can work in more or less the same ways as the English nouns written above.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
