Mendokusai is the Japanese adjective for ‘annoying’ or ‘bothersome’

What does “mendokusai” mean in Japanese?

Japanese people say “mendokusai” to mean ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’. In this blog post, I will explain this word in detail based on its components. And also, I will explain its major conjugations. My explanations would help Japanese learners to use “mendokusai” properly. Then, let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meanings of “mendokusai”
• Kanji expression for “mendoukusai”
  • Example #1: how to say “annoying” in Japanese
• Nai form of “mendokusai”
  • Example #2: how to say “not annoying” in Japanese
• Ta form of “mendokusai”
  • Example #3: how to say “was annoying” in Japanese
• Te form of “mendokusai”
  • Example #4: how to say “annoying and”
• Ba form of “mendokusai”
  • Example #5: how to say “if annoying” in Japanese
• Summary

Definition and meanings of “mendokusai”

Let me start with the definition and meanings of “mendokusai”.

• mendokusai – めんどくさい : an i-adjective meaning ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’ in Japanese. Depending on the subject word used together, this can also mean ‘annoyed’ or ‘bothered’.

Japanese people use this i-adjective to describe something they don’t want to do or someone they don’t want to get involved with. So, it is very useful when we want to describe something or someone we want to keep away. Perhaps, the translations above are not completely in line with the original concept. “Mendokusai” is, however, quite often translated into English as ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’.

Japanese people use the above pronunciation especially in speaking, but its official pronunciation is “mendoukusai”. The kanji expression for this pronunciation tells us more about the concept behind this word. Let me explain it in detail.

Kanji expression for “mendoukusai”

Below is the kanji expression for “mendoukusai”.

• mendoukusai – 面倒臭い (めんどうくさい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’ in Japanese. Depending on the subject word used together, this can also mean ‘annoyed’ or ‘bothered’.

Grammatically, this expression consists of the following two parts:

• mendou – 面倒 (めんどう) : a noun meaning ‘trouble’ or ‘difficulty’ in Japanese.
• kusai – 臭い (くさい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘bad-smelling’ in Japanese, but this can also work as a suffix after a noun to add the meaning of ‘-like’.

From these two components, we can understand that “mendoukusai” literally means ‘trouble-like’. This is the very basic concept lying under the meanings. This concept explains well why Japanese people use it to describe something they want to keep away from them, I think.

When we meet new Japanese expressions, we should check their components in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, components tell us a lot about meanings of expressions they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “mendoukusai” through the detailed check above.

Then, let me explain how to use “mendokusai” through the example sentence below.

Example #1: how to say “annoying” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this is used after “kare” to make the subject word in the sentence.
• totemo – とても : an adverb of degree, meaning ‘very’, ‘much’, ‘so’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it emphasizes the meaning of the following word.

This is a typical usage of “mendokusai”. In this example, it works as a complement to describe the person the speaker wants to keep away. When we want to describe something or someone we want to keep away, this i-adjective is very useful.

In the rest part of this blog post, I will explain major conjugations of “mendokusai”. The first one is “mendokusakunai”.

Nai form of “mendokusai”

Below are the definition and meanings of “mendokusakunai”.

• mendokusakunai – めんどくさくない : the nai form of “mendokusai”, meaning ‘not annoying’, ‘not bothersome’, or ‘not troublesome’ in Japanese.

Grammatically, “mendokusakunai” consists of the following two parts:

• mendokusaku – めんどくさく : one conjugation of “mendokusai”. This can have a smooth connection with “nai”.
• nai – ない : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to deny its meaning. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this auxiliary verb is very similar to that of “not”.

From these two components, we can understand that “mendokusakunai” is literally the nai form of “mendokusai” and means ‘not annoying’, ‘not bothersome’, or ‘not troublesome’ in Japanese. Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentence below.

Example #2: how to say “not annoying” in Japanese

Below is the new word used in the example sentence.

• kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “mendokusakunai”. When we want to describe someone with whom we can get along, we can use this nai form. In many cases, however, we should use more positive words.

Ta form of “mendokusai”

Below are the definition and meanings of “mendokusakatta”.

• mendokusakatta – めんどくさかった : the ta form of “mendokusai”, meaning ‘was annoying’, ‘was bothersome’, or ‘was troublesome’ in Japanese.

Grammatically, “mendokusakatta” consists of the following two parts:

• mendokusakat – めんどくさかっ : one conjugation of “mendokusai”. This can have a smooth connection with “ta”.
• ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its ta form.

From these two components, we can understand that “mendokusakatta” is literally the ta form of “mendokusai”. In Japanese, ta forms of words can work as their past tense forms. So, we can say “mendokusakatta” to mean ‘was annoying’, ‘was bothersome’, or ‘was troublesome’ in Japanese. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.

Example #3: how to say “was annoying” in Japanese

This is a typical usage of “mendokusakatta”. When we want to use the past tense form of “mendokusai”, this ta form is the best choice.

Te form of “mendokusai”

Below are the definition and meanings of “mendokusakute”.

• mendokusakute – めんどくさくて : the te form of “mendokusai”, meaning ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’ in Japanese.

Grammatically, “mendokusakute” consists of the following two parts:

• mendokusaku – めんどくさく : one conjugation of “mendokusai”. This can have a smooth connection with “te”.
• te – て : a conjunctive particle used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its te form.

From these two components, we can understand that “mendokusakute” is literally the te form of “mendokusai”. In Japanese, te forms of words have some important roles. One of them is make smooth connections of words. Actually, “mendokusakute” is very useful when we want to use “mendokusai” before another adjective or verb with a smooth connection. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.

Example #4: how to say “annoying and”

Below is the new word used in the example sentence.

• urusai – 煩い (うるさい) : an i-adjecitve meaning ‘noisy’ or ‘loud’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “mendokusakute”. In this example, it has the smooth connection with “urusai”. When we want to use “urusai” before another adjective with a smooth connection, this te form is very useful.

Ba form of “mendokusai”

Lastly, let me explain the definition and meanings of “mendokusakereba”.

• mendokusakereba – めんどくさければ : the ba form of “mendokusai”, working to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’.

Grammatically, “mendokusakereba” consists of the following two parts:

• mendokusakere – めんどくさけれ : one conjugation of “mendokusai”. This can have a smooth connection with “ba”.
• ba – ば : a conjunctive particle used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its ba form.

From these two components, we can understand that “mendokusakereba” is literally the ba form of “mendokusai”. In Japanese, ba forms of words can work as their conditional forms. So, “mendokusakereba” is useful when we want to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.

Example #5: how to say “if annoying” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• 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 the first “kare” to make the subject word in the conditional clause.
• ni – に : a case particle used to say in which direction an action goes. In the example, this is used after the second “kare” to say in which direction the action described by “tsutae te” goes.
• tsutae – 伝え (つたえ) : one conjugation of the verb, “tsutaeru”, which means ‘to tell’, ‘to inform’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
• te – て : the same as used in “mendokusakute”. In the example, this is used after “tsutae” to make its te form, “tsutae te”. Verbs need to be changed to their te forms to be connected with “kudasai”.
• kudasai – ください : the command form of the verb, “kudasaru”, which means ‘to give’ in Japanese. When this follows a te-formed verb, however, it can work as an auxiliary verb to add the meaning of ‘please’ to the preceding verb. In the example, this works as an auxiliary verb.

This is a typical usage of “mendokusakereba”. In this example, it works as a part of the conditional clause, “kare ga mendokusakereba”, which means ‘if he is annoying’. When we want to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘annoying’, this ba form is a good option.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained “mendokusai” in detail with its official pronunciation. And also, I’ve explained its major conjugations. Let me summarize them as follows.

• mendokusai – めんどくさい : an i-adjective meaning ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’ in Japanese. Depending on the subject word used together, this can also mean ‘annoyed’ or ‘bothered’. Japanese people use this i-adjective to describe something they don’t want to do or someone they don’t want to get involved with. So, it is very useful when we want to describe something or someone we want to keep away.
• mendokusakunai – めんどくさくない : the nai form of “mendokusai”, meaning ‘not annoying’, ‘not bothersome’, or ‘not troublesome’ in Japanese.
• mendokusakatta – めんどくさかった : the ta form of “mendokusai”, meaning ‘was annoying’, ‘was bothersome’, or ‘was troublesome’ in Japanese.
• mendokusakute – めんどくさくて : the te form of “mendokusai”, meaning ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’ in Japanese. When we want to use “mendokusai” before another adjective or a verb with a smooth connection, this te form is very useful.
• mendokusakereba – めんどくさければ : the ba form of “mendokusai”, working to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘annoying’, ‘bothersome’, or ‘troublesome’.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.