Omoi meaning ‘thought’, ‘mind’ or ‘feelings’ in Japanese

“Omoi” is a Japanese word for ‘thought’, ‘mind’, ‘feelings’, ‘love’, ‘expectation’, ‘heavy’, ‘important’ or ‘serious’. As you can see here, omoi meaning can vary widely depending on context and words used together. It would be confusing to Japanese learners. Fortunately, however, these meanings are strongly related to kanji expressions of “omoi”. So, as long as we understand its kanji expressions correctly, we can easily understand what meaning is intended. Plus, “omoi” has only three different kanji expressions. So, remembering them all is not that difficult. I will explain them one by one. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Explanation of each omoi meaning
  • ‘Heavy’, ‘important’ or ‘serious’
    • Example of “重い”
  • ‘Thought’, ‘mind’ or ‘feelings’
    • Example of “思い”
  • Those above plus ‘love’ or ‘expectation’
    • Example of “想い”
  • And the rest: how to use two omoi together
• Summary

Explanation of each omoi meaning

‘Heavy’, ‘important’ or ‘serious’

First, let me start with the kanji expression, “重い”.

• omoi – 重い (おもい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘heavy’, ‘important’ or ‘serious’. Its meaning can vary depending on context.

This is an adjective. From the grammatical point of view, therefore, it is very different from the others. The other two are used as a noun. In addition to the definition, its meanings are not based on the same concept as the others have. So, its usage can be considered relatively unique. Below is an example.

Example of “重い”

Below are new words used in the example.

• kono – この : a demonstrative pronoun meaning ‘this’. Normally, it is used to indicate or refer to something close to the speaker.
• te-buru – テーブル (てーぶる) : a noun meaning ‘a table’ or ‘tables’. In Japanese, there is no clear border between the singular and the plural. Learn more about Japanese singular and plural.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case maker or topic maker. In the example, it is put after the noun, “te-buru”, to make the subject word in the sentence.

This is a typical use of “omoi” meaning ‘heavy’. Again, “omoi” is an adjective for this usage. Therefore, normally, it is put just before a noun or just after a particle which makes the subject word in sentence. It’s quite similar to English adjectives, I think.

‘Thought’, ‘mind’ or ‘feelings’

The next kanji expression is “思い”.

• omoi – 思い (おもい) : a noun meaning ‘thought’, ‘mind’ or ‘feelings’.

This is a noun, so very different from the previous one. However, unfortunately, it is quite similar to the next one. So, even Japanese native speakers could get confused with them. Yet, there is a slight difference. While “思い” is used to mean ‘thought’, ‘mind’ or ‘feelings’ generally, the next one, “想い”, is used to mean more dedicated thought or mind like ‘love’. For this reason, Japanese people use this kanji expression unless they have any special intention. Below is an example.

Example of “思い”

Below are new words.

• anata – あなた : a pronoun meaning ‘you’.
• ni – に : a case particle used to indicate a target of act described by a verb. In the example, it is put after the noun, “anata”, to indicate the target.
• warui – 悪い (わるい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘bad’, ‘wrong’, ‘evil’ or some such. When it is used together with “omoi”, the formed phrase is often translated to, say, “uncomfortableness”.
• wo – を : a case particle widely used to make the object word in sentence. In the example, however, it is used to make a part of the complement word. It’s written as “wo”, but its actual pronunciation is “o”.
• sa – さ : one conjugation of the verb, “suru”, meaning ‘to do’ in Japanese. For a better connection with its following word, it has been conjugated in the example.
• se – せ : one conjugation of the verb, “seru”, meaning ‘to get’, ‘to make’, ‘to force’ or some such. It is often used to force someone to do something. Like the verb, “sa”, it has been conjugated for a better connection with its following word.
• ta – た : an auxiliary verb widely used to express the past tense in Japanese.

This example shows how Japanese native speakers use “omoi” as a noun. To be honest, both sentences are not a good match. But a nuance which the Japanese sentence has is well expressed also in the translated sentence.

Those above plus ‘love’ or ‘expectation’

The last kanji expression is “想い”.

• omoi – 想い (おもい) : a noun meaning ‘thought’, ‘mind’, ‘feelings’, ‘love’ or ‘expectation’.

This kanji expression can mean what the previous one can do. Plus, it can also mean ‘love’ or ‘expectation’. As I mentioned already, “想い” can be used to express more dedicated thought or mind like ‘love’. So, in a way, it can be considered upper compatible. Honestly, it has a few more meanings, but basically it means one of the above mentioned meanings. Below is an example.

Example of “想い”

Below are new words.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’.
• no – の : a case particle used to make the possessive case word. In the example, it is put after the noun, “watashi”, to make the possessive case corresponding to ‘my’.
• tsutae – 伝え (つたえ) : one conjugation of the verb, “tsutaeru”, meaning ‘to tell’, ‘to inform’ or ‘to communicate’. For a better connection with its following word, it has been conjugated in the example.
• tai – たい : an auxiliary verb widely used to make tai formed verbs meaning ‘to want to do’. In the example, it is put after the verb, “tsutae”, to mean ‘to want to tell’.

This is a typical usage of “想い”. Although I translated it to “my feelings”, it can be translated to ‘my love’ or such. When this kanji expression is used instead of the previous one, “思い”, it would give us more emotional impressions. For this reason, this kanji expression is often used in Japanese lyrics.

And the rest: how to use two omoi together

Due to a difference in definition, “重い” can be used together with either “思い” or “想い”. Below is an example.

Below are new words.

• kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’. In the example, it has been changed to the possessive case ‘his’ due to the case particle, “no”.
• omo – 重 (おも) : one conjugation of the i-adjective, “omoi”, meaning ‘heavy’.
• sugiru – 過ぎる (すぎる) : a verb often put after a verb or adjective to express something unacceptable or an excessive degree. It works like an auxiliary verb quite often.

This is a typical combination of “重い” and “想い”. In casual conversation, “重い” is very helpful to express excessive love. Of course, this doesn’t mean that this expression can be used only for love. It can express excessive emotion generally. For this usage, it is usually used with a negative nuance.

Summary

So far, I’ve explained each “omoi” meaning. A summary is as follows.

• omoi – 重い (おもい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘heavy’, ‘important’ or ‘serious’. Its meaning can vary depending on context.
• omoi – 思い (おもい) : a noun meaning ‘thought’, ‘mind’ or ‘feelings’. Usually, Japanese people use this kanji expression to mean ‘thought’, ‘mind’ or ‘feelings’ unless they have any special intention behind.
• omoi – 想い (おもい) : a noun meaning ‘thought’, ‘mind’, ‘feelings’, ‘love’ or ‘expectation’. This kanji expression is often used to mean more dedicated thought or mind like ‘love’. For this reason, it is often used in Japanese lyrics.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.