Honesty in Japanese: shoujiki, explained based on the kanji expression

How to say “honesty” in Japanese

Japanese people would say “shoujiki”. It is the Japanese word for ‘honesty’. In reality, however, this word can also be used to mean ‘honest’ or ‘honestly’ depending on the situation and context. In this blog post, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain how to use it in the three different ways. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “shoujiki”
• Kanji of “shoujiki”
• Example #1: how to say “honesty” in Japanese
• Example #2: how to say “honest” in Japanese
• Example #3: how to say “honestly” in Japanese
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “shoujiki”

First of all, let me start with the definition and meaning of “shoujiki”.

• shoujiki – 正直 (しょうじき) : a noun meaning ‘honesty’ in Japanese.

Grammatically, it is a noun. In reality, however, Japanese native speakers often use it as an adjective to mean ‘honest’ in Japanese. In the Japanese language, basically every na-adjective consists of one noun and one conjugative suffix. For this reason, nouns can be regarded as abbreviated forms of na-adjectives. “Shoujiki” is one of them. It is a noun, but can also be used as the abbreviated form of the na-adjective, “shoujikina”, which means ‘honest’ in Japanese.

In addition, especially in speaking, Japanese native speakers often use it like an adverb to say “honestly” in Japanese, or “to be honest”. So, the definition and meaning of “shoujiki” above can be updated as follows.

• shoujiki – 正直 (しょうじき) : a noun meaning ‘honesty’ in Japanese. It can also be used as the abbreviated form of “shoujikina” which means ‘honest’. In addition, especially in speaking, people use it like an adverb to say “honestly” or “to be honest” in Japanese.

To understand this word a bit more clearly, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.

Kanji of “shoujiki”

Below are the kanji characters used in the word, “shoujiki”.

• 正 : a kanji character widely used in Japanese words related to rightness, correctness, or truthfulness.
• 直 : a kanji character widely used in Japanese words related to straightness.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “shoujiki” literally means rightness and straightness. This is the basic concept lying under the meaning of “honest” in the Japanese language.

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

Then, let me explain how to use “shoujiki” through the example sentences below.

Example #1: how to say “honesty” 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, it is put after the pronoun, “kare”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• de – で : a case particle used to express a means to do something or a reason for something. In the example, it is put after the noun, “shoujiki”, to express the characteristic for which he is known.
• shira – 知ら (しら) : one conjugation of the verb, “shiru”, which means ‘to know’ in Japanese. It has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
• re – れ : one conjugation of the auxiliary verb, “reru”, which is put after a verb to make its passive form. In the example, it is put after the conjugated verb, “shira”, to make its passive form, “shira re”, which means ‘to be known’ in Japanese.
• te – て : a conjunctive particle put after a verb, adjective, auxiliary verb, or phrase to make its te form. In the example, it is put after the verb phrase, “shira re”, to make its te form, “shira re te”. Verbs and auxiliary verbs need to be changed to their te forms to be connected with the auxiliary verb, “iru”.
• iru – いる : an auxiliary verb used to express the continuity of the action described by the preceding verb or verb phrase. In the example, it is put after the verb phrase, “shira re te”, to express the continuity of the action, ‘to be known’.

This is a typical usage of “shoujiki”. In the example, it is used as a noun to mean ‘honesty’ in Japanese. When we want to say “honesty” in Japanese, it would be a good choice.

Example #2: how to say “honest” in Japanese

Below are the new words and particle used in the example sentence.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• no – の : a case particle put after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, it is put after the pronoun, “watashi”, to make its possessive case, “watashi no”, which means ‘my’ in Japanese. Learn more about “watashi no“.
• kareshi – 彼氏 (かれし) : a noun meaning ‘boyfriend’ in Japanese. Learn more about “kareshi“.
• wa – は : the same as explained in the last example. In this example, it is put after the noun phrase, “watashi no kareshi”, to make the subject in the sentence.
• totemo – とても : an adverb used to emphasize the meaning of its following word. In the example, it is used to emphasize the meaning of “shoujiki”.

This is another typical usage of “shoujiki”. It looks completely the same as the one used in the last example. In this example, however, it is used as the complement to the subject, “watashi no koibito”, so it should mean ‘honest’, not ‘honesty’. In most cases, we can easily understand what “shoujiki” means based on the relation between the subject and the complement in a sentence.

Example #3: how to say “honestly” in Japanese

Below are the new words and particle used in the example sentence.

• wa – は : the same as explained in the last examples. In this example, it is put after the pronoun, “kare”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• kakkouyoku – 格好良く (かっこうよく) : one conjugation of the i-adjective, “kakkouyoi”, which means ‘handsome’, ‘cool’, or ‘good-looking’ in Japanese. It has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word in the sentence.
• nai – ない : an auxiliary verb put after a verb or adjective to deny its meaning. In the example, it is put after the conjugated i-adjective, “kakkouyoku”, to deny its meaning.

This is another typical usage of “shoujiki”. If it weren’t used, a sentence could still make sense: ‘he is not handsome.’ Therefore, we can understand that it is used as an adverb in the sentence. Japanese native speakers often use “shoujiki” in this way especially in speaking.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the word, “shoujiki”, in detail based on the kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained how to use it in the three different ways. Let me summarize them as follows.

• shoujiki – 正直 (しょうじき) : a noun meaning ‘honesty’ in Japanese. It can also be used as the abbreviated form of “shoujikina” which means ‘honest’. In addition, especially in speaking, people use it like an adverb to say “honestly” or “to be honest” in Japanese.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.