悪い猫
warui neko
The English phrase "bad cat" is expressed in Japanese as 悪い猫 (warui neko).
The phrase is used to describe a cat that behaves poorly or does something wrong.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the adjective 悪い (warui), meaning 'bad' and the noun 猫 (neko), meaning 'cat'.
Which one should you use?
While 悪い猫 focuses on a cat behaving badly, you can also use やんちゃな猫 to describe a mischievous or energetic cat or わんぱく猫 to describe a cat with a lively, playful character.
How does it change in a sentence?
Because 悪い is an i-adjective, it directly precedes the noun 猫 to modify it.
How do you pronounce it?
warui neko
Did you know?
- Japanese has a specific word 猫舌 (nekojita), meaning 'cat tongue', to describe a person who cannot handle hot food or drinks.
- In Japan, the word 猫 is sometimes used in the phrase 猫をかぶる (neko o kaburu), which means 'to wear a cat'. This describes someone who pretends to be modest or well-behaved to hide their true, possibly 'bad' personality.
- In Japanese folklore, a 'bad cat' might be associated with the bakeneko, a supernatural cat that can shape-shift and cause chaos in a household.
Examples in context
- 私の猫はとても悪い猫です。My cat is a very bad cat.
- このいたずらっ子の猫は本当に手が焼ける。This mischievous cat is really hard to handle.
- ウチのネコは、すごくやんちゃな猫だよ。My cat is a really mischievous cat!
- このわんぱく猫がまた夜騒ぎをしているんだ。This rascal of a cat is causing a commotion at night again.
- これは悪い猫ですね。Kore wa warui neko desu ne.This is a bad cat, isn't it?
- あの悪い猫を捕まえて！Ano warui neko o tsukamaete!Catch that bad cat!
- いたずらをする悪い猫。Itazura o suru warui neko.A bad cat that plays pranks.
Example conversation
Ren and Yui find their cat has knocked over a vase.
- 蓮 Renあ！花瓶が割れているよ。A! Kabin ga warete iru yo.Oh! The vase is broken.
- 結衣 Yuiもしかして、この子がやったの？Moshikashite, kono ko ga yatta no?Do you think this little one did it?
- 蓮 Renああ、本当に悪い猫だな。Aa, hontou ni warui neko da na.Yeah, what a bad cat.
- 結衣 Yuiでも、可愛いから許しちゃおう。Demo, kawaii kara yurushichao.But he's cute, so let's just forgive him.
