Subarashii is the Japanese adjective for ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, or ‘great’

What does “subarashii” mean in Japanese?

Japanese people say “subarashii” to mean ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, ‘great’, or such in Japanese. In this blog post, I will explain this word and its major conjugations. And also, I will explain how to use them through example sentences. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meanings of “subarashii”
  • Example #1: how to say “awesome” in Japanese
• Nai form of “subarashii”
  • Example #2: how to say “not awesome” in Japanese
• Ta form of “subarashii”
  • Example #3: how to use the past tense form of “subarashii”
• Te form of “subarashii”
  • Example #4: how to use “subarashii” before another adjective
• Ba form of “subarashii”
  • Example #5: how to use “subarashikereba”
• Summary

Definition and meanings of “subarashii”

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

• subarashii – 素晴らしい (すばらしい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, ‘great’, or such in Japanese.

Japanese native speakers use this i-adjective to describe something extremely good. In daily conversations, they use it in more or less the same way as English natives use ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, or ‘great’. Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentence below.

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

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• kono – この : a determiner used before a noun referring to a thing close to the speaker. In the example, this is used before “ocha” to say “this tea” in Japanese.
• ocha – お茶 (おちゃ) : a noun meaning ‘tea’, especially ‘green tea’, in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this is used after “kono ocha” to make the subject in the sentence.

This is a typical usage of “subarashii”. When we want to say “awesome” in Japanese, this word is a good choice. In this example, it works as a complement. Like other adjectives, however, it can also work as a modifier. So, we can say “kono subarashii ocha” to mean ‘this awesome tea’ in Japanese. It’s worth knowing, I think.

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

Nai form of “subarashii”

Below are the definition and meanings of “subarashikunai”.

• subarashikunai – 素晴らしくない (すばらしくない) : the nai form of “subarashii”, meaning ‘not awesome’, ‘not wonderful’, ‘not great’, or such in Japanese.

This nai form consists of the following two parts:

• subarashiku – 素晴らしく (すばらしく) : one conjugation of “subarashii”. This can have the better 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 similar to that of “not”.

From these two components, we can understand that “subarashikunai” is literally the nai form of “subarashii” and means ‘not awesome’, ‘not wonderful’, ‘not great’, or such in Japanese. Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentence below.

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

Below is the new word used in the example sentence.

• ano – あの : a determiner used before a noun referring to a thing not close to the speaker. In the example, this is used before “ocha” to say “that tea” in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “subarashikunai”. When we want to say “not awesome” in Japanese, this nai form is a good choice.

Ta form of “subarashii”

Below are the definition and meanings of “subarashikatta”.

• subarashikatta – 素晴らしかった (すばらしかった) : the ta form of “subarashii”, working as its past tense form. So, this means ‘was awesome’, ‘were awesome’, or such in Japanese.

This ta form consists of the following two parts:

• subarashikat – 素晴らしかっ (すばらしかっ) : one conjugation of “subarashii”. This can have the better 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 “subarashikatta” is literally the ta form of “subarashii”. In Japanese, ta forms of verbs and adjectives can work as their past tense forms. So, we can say “subarashikatta” to mean ‘was awesome’, ‘were awesome’, or such in Japanese. Then, let me explain how to use this ta form through the example sentence below.

Example #3: how to use the past tense form of “subarashii”

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• no – の : a case particle used to join two nouns. Normally the preceding noun works to modify the meaning of the following noun. In the example, this joins “ocha” and “mise”. The formed phrase literally means ‘tea shop’ in Japanese.
• mise – 店 (みせ) : a noun meaning ‘shop’, ‘store’, or such in Japanese. This can also work as a plural noun. Learn more about Japanese plural.

This is a typical usage of “subarashikatta”. When we want to say “was awesome” in Japanese, this ta form is a good choice.

Te form of “subarashii”

Below are the definition and meanings of “subarashikute”.

• subarashikute – 素晴らしくて (すばらしくて) : the te form of “subarashii”, meaning ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, ‘great’, or such in Japanese.

This te form consists of the following two parts:

• subarashiku – 素晴らしく (すばらしく) : one conjugation of “subarashii”. This can have the better connection with “te”.
• te – て : a conjunctive particle used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its te form.

A te form of an adjective can have a smooth connection with another adjective or a verb. So, “subarashikute” is very useful when we want to use adjectives in a row. Let m explain how to use it through the example sentence below.

Example #4: how to use “subarashii” before another adjective

Below is the new word used in the example sentence.

• oishii – 美味しい (おいしい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘delicious’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “subarashikute”. In the example, it has the smooth connection with “oishii”. When we want to use “subarashii” before another adjective, its te form is useful.

Ba form of “subarashii”

Below are the definition and meanings of “subarashikereba”.

• subarashikereba – 素晴らしければ (すばらしければ) : the ba form of “subarashii”, used to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, ‘great’, or such in Japanese.

This ba form consists of the following two parts:

• subarashikere – 素晴らしけれ (すばらしけれ) : one conjugation of “subarashii”. This can have the better connection with “ba”.
• ba – ば : a conjunctive particle used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its ba form.

In Japanese, ba forms of verbs and adjectives can work as their conditional forms. So, we can use “subarashikereba” to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, ‘great’, or such in Japanese. Let me explain how to use it through the example sentence below.

Example #5: how to use “subarashikereba”

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ 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 “kare” to make the subject word in the conditional clause.
• saiyou suru – 採用する (さいようする) : a verb meaning ‘to recruit’, ‘to hire’, or ‘to employ’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “subarashikereba”. In this example, it has a subjunctive mood and works as a part of the conditional clause which means ‘if he were awesome’. When we want to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, or ‘great’ in Japanese, this ba forms is useful.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the i-adjective, “subarashii”, and its major conjugations. And also, I’ve explained how to use them through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

• subarashii – 素晴らしい (すばらしい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, ‘great’, or such in Japanese. This can work as both a modifier and a complement.
• subarashikunai – 素晴らしくない (すばらしくない) : the nai form of “subarashii”, meaning ‘not awesome’, ‘not wonderful’, ‘not great’, or such in Japanese.
• subarashikatta – 素晴らしかった (すばらしかった) : the ta form of “subarashii”, working as its past tense form. So, this means ‘was awesome’, ‘were awesome’, or such in Japanese.
• subarashikute – 素晴らしくて (すばらしくて) : the te form of “subarashii”, meaning ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, ‘great’, or such in Japanese. When we want to use “subarashii” before another adjective, this form is useful.
• subarashikereba – 素晴らしければ (すばらしければ) : the ba form of “subarashii”, used to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’, ‘great’, or such in Japanese.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.