多い

Japanese

Kanji in this term
多
おお
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Etymology

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *əpə. Cognate with 大きい (ōkii, “big, large”) and Proto-Ryukyuan *opo (whence Okinawan 多さん (ufusan)).

Pronunciation

  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of "多い"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 多く お​おく [óꜜòkù]
Terminal (終止形) 多い お​おい [óꜜòì]
Attributive (連体形) 多い お​おい [óꜜòì]
Key constructions
Informal negative 多くない お​おくない [óꜜòkùnàì]
Informal past 多かった お​おかった [óꜜòkàttà]
Informal negative past 多くなかった お​おくなかった [óꜜòkùnàkàttà]
Formal 多いです お​おいです [óꜜòìdèsù]
Conjunctive 多くて お​おくて [óꜜòkùtè]
Conditional 多ければ お​おければ [óꜜòkèrèbà]

Adjective

多(おお)い • (ōi) ←おほい (ofoi)?-i (adverbial 多(おお)く (ōku))

  1. there are many, there is much, there are numerous, there is an abundance, there amply exists
    ここは、人(ひと)が多(おお)いです。
    Koko wa, hito ga ōidesu.
    Here, people amply exist > This place has many people.
    今年(ことし)は、雪(ゆき)が多(おお)いです。
    Kotoshi wa, yuki ga ōidesu.
    This year, the snow amply exists > It snows much this year.
    リンゴの数(かず)は、ミカンより多(おお)いです。
    Ringo no kazu wa, mikan yori ōidesu.
    The number of apples has more abundance than oranges > The number of apples is greater than the number of oranges.

Usage notes

  • 多い cannot modify a noun to mean the referents of the noun are many.
    • Incorrect:
      多(おお)い人(ひと) ― ōi hito ― amply exist people
    • Correct:
      子(こ)供(ども)が多(おお)い人(ひと) ― kodomo ga ōi hito ― a person whose children amply exist > a person with many children
      人(ひと)の数(かず)が多(おお)い ― hito no kazu ga ōi ― the number of people amply exist → there are many people
    • To modify a noun, use 多(おお)くの (ōku no), たくさんの (takusan no), 数(かず)多(おお)い (kazuōi), etc.

Inflection

Synonyms

Antonyms

References

  1. Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō
  2. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
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