World in Japanese: sekai, explained based on the kanji expression

How to say “the world” in Japanese

Japanese people would say “sekai”. It is the Japanese word for ‘the world’. In this blog post, I will explain this word in detail based on the kanji expression. And also, I will explain its related expression which Japanese people often use. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “sekai”
• Kanji of “sekai”
• Example #1: how to say “our world” in Japanese
• Definition and meaning of “sekaiichi”
• Example #2: how to say “the best in the world” in Japanese
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “sekai”

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

• sekai – 世界 (せかい) : a noun meaning ‘the world’ in Japanese. Depending on the situation and context, it can imply ‘the earth’ or ‘the universe’.

Its definition and meanings are quite simple and clear, I think. To understand this word a bit more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.

Kanji of “sekai”

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

• 世 : a kanji character used to express a place where people live.
• 界 : a kanji character used to mean ‘world’, ‘society’, or ‘community’.

The second kanji is often used in Buddhism to express spiritual stages. To tell the truth, the word, “sekai”, itself originally came from the religion. It was used to express this world, where people are living. Today, it is widely used without any religious nuances to mean the world. In addition, from the two kanji characters explained above, we can understand that “sekai” literally means a world where people are living. It is ‘the world’.

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

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

Example #1: how to say “our world” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• tachi – 達 (たち) : a suffix put after a noun or pronoun to make its plural form. In the example, it is put after the pronoun, “watashi”, to make its plural form, “watashi tachi”, which means ‘we’ in Japanese. Learn more about Japanese plural.
• no – の : a case particle put after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, it is put after the plural pronoun, “watashi tachi”, to make its possessive case, “watashi tachi no”, which means ‘our’ in Japanese. Learn more about “no” through the possessive case, “watashi no“.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case maker or topic maker. In the example, it is put after the noun, “sekai”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• utsukushii – 美しい (うつくしい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘beautiful’ in Japanese. Learn more about “utsukushii“.

This is a typical usage of “sekai”. In this example, it is used as a part of the expression, “watashi tachi no sekai”, which is quite often used to mean ‘our world’ in Japanese.

Next, then, let me explain its related expression as follows.

Definition and meaning of “sekaiichi”

Below are the definition and meaning of “sekaiichi”.

• sekaiichi – 世界一 (せかいいち) : a noun meaning ‘being the best in the world’ in Japanese.

“Ichi” is a numeral meaning ‘one’ in Japanese. Here, it has been added after the noun, “sekai”. The formed noun, “sekaiichi”, is widely used to mean ‘being the best in the world’ in Japanese. Depending on the situation and context, it can also be used like an adjective to mean ‘the best in the world’. In fact, Japanese native speakers quite often use it like an adjective especially in conversations.

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

Example #2: how to say “the best in the world” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : the same as explained in the last example. In this example, it is put after the pronoun, “kanojo”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• josei – 女性 (じょせい) : a noun meaning ‘woman’ or ‘women’ in Japanese. Depending on the situation and context, it can also be used to mean ‘female’. In this example, it is used as a singular noun meaning ‘woman’.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb put after a noun, adjective, or phrase to make it polite. In the example, it is put after the noun phrase, “sekaiichi utsukushii josei”, to make it sound polite.

This is a typical usage of “sekaiichi”. In this example, it is not used alone, but together with the i-adjective, “utsukushii”, to mean ‘the most beautiful’ instead of ‘the best’. This means that “sekaiichi” can be put before an adjective to add the meaning of ‘the most in the world’ to the following adjective. When we want to just mean “she is the best in the world” in Japanese, we can just say “kanojo wa sekaiichi desu”.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the word, “sekai”, in detail based on the kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained its related expression which means ‘the best in the world’ in Japanese. Let me summarize them as follows.

• sekai – 世界 (せかい) : a noun meaning ‘the world’ in Japanese. Depending on the situation and context, it can imply ‘the earth’ or ‘the universe’. This word originally came from Buddhism where it is used to mean a place people are living.
• watashi tachi no sekai – 私達の世界 (わたしたちのせかい) : a Japanese expression for ‘our world’.
• sekaiichi – 世界一 (せかいいち) : a noun meaning ‘being the best in the world’ in Japanese. Depending on the situation and context, it can also be used like an adjective to mean ‘the best in the world’. When it is put just before an adjective, it can add the meaning of ‘the most in the world’ to the following adjective.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.