欠席
kesseki[ke̞sːe̞kʲi]
The English word 'absent' is translated into Japanese as 欠席 (kesseki).
欠席 is used to describe being away from a place where someone was expected or obligated to be, such as a school or a formal meeting.
Meaning: being away from a place (adj)
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of the kanji 欠, meaning lack or miss and 席, meaning seat or place.
Which one should you use?
While 欠席 refers to missing a scheduled event, 不在 is used to describe someone who is simply not present at a location, such as a home or an office.
How does it change in a sentence?
To use 'absent' as a verb, you can add the verb する to the noun to form 欠席する. To indicate that someone is currently absent, you can add the suffix 中 to create 欠席中, meaning 'currently absent' or 'in the middle of an absence'. For the informal term いない, the past form is いなかった.
How do you pronounce it?
kesseki
Did you know?
- When students are absent from school, they often provide a 欠席届, a formal written notice of absence, which is more common than a simple phone call.
- The kanji 欠 can also be used in the word 欠点, meaning 'defect' or 'fault', sharing the same root idea of something being missing or lacking.
- Because 席 literally means 'seat', calling someone 欠席 evokes the image of an 'empty seat' rather than just a person's absence.
Examples in context
- ３人欠席です。Three people are absent.This sentence is useful for stating the number of people who are absent using 欠席.Tatoeba #11101222 by small_snow, translation #7936660 by AlanF_US
- トムは欠席です。Tom is absent.This sentence shows how to state that a specific person is absent using 欠席.Tatoeba #11295784 by small_snow, translation #37162 by CK
- 彼は学校を欠席した。He was absent from school.This sentence demonstrates using 欠席 to say someone was absent from school.Tatoeba #108868 by bunbuku, translation #294821 by CK
- 昨日はいなかったI was absent yesterday
- 不在でごめんなさいI'm sorry for being absent
- 34 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Kenta and Yui are talking about a classmate who is missing from the lesson.
- 健太 Kenta今日の授業、誰が欠席ですか？Kyō no jugyō, dare ga kesseki desu ka?Who is absent from today's class?
- 結衣 Yui田中さんが欠席ですよ。Tanaka-san ga kesseki desu yo.Mr. Tanaka is absent.
- 健太 Kentaどうして欠席したんですか？Dōshite kesseki shita n desu ka?Why was he absent?
- 結衣 Yui風邪を引いたみたいです。Kaze o hiita mitai desu.It seems he caught a cold.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 欠席, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
