彼はかっこいい
kare wa kakkoii
To say "he is cool" in Japanese, you use 彼はかっこいい (kare wa kakkoii).
The term かっこいい (kakkoii) is used to describe someone who is cool, stylish or handsome. It can refer to a person's physical attractiveness, their stylishness or a cool/impressive action or attitude. Other ways to express similar sentiments include すてき (wonderful), すごい (amazing or awesome) or やばい (awesome or incredible).
What does it mean word for word?
The word かっこいい is a contraction of kakko ga ii, which literally means "appearance is good".
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
You can make the sentence polite and suitable for most social situations by adding desu to the end, resulting in 彼はかっこいいです. For a more formal way to say someone is an amazing person, you can use 素晴らしい人です. On the other hand, すごい can be used to mean "cool" in an informal context.
How do you pronounce it?
kare wa kakkoii
Did you know?
- If you use the slang term やばい (yabai) to mean 'cool' or 'awesome', you are using a word that originally meant 'dangerous' or 'risky'. It is a linguistic evolution where a negative state became an extreme positive.
- While かっこいい refers to someone's appearance or cool attitude, the word 格好 (kakko) can also refer to a 'pose' or 'stance' in martial arts. Therefore, saying someone is 'cool' can subtly imply they have a well-maintained posture or presence.
- Japanese speakers often drop the pronoun 彼 ('he') entirely if it is clear who they are talking about. Saying just かっこいいです is more natural in conversation than using the full phrase 彼はかっこいいです.
Examples in context
- 彼 (かれ) はかっこいいです。He is cool.
- 彼 (かれ) は素晴らしい人です。He is a cool person.
- 彼 (かれ) はすごいね。He is cool, right?
- 彼はかっこいい俳優です。Kare wa kakkoii haiyu desu.He is a cool actor.
Example conversation
Yota and Yui are talking about a celebrity on TV.
- 陽太 Yotaあのモデル、見た？Ano moderu, mita?Did you see that model?
- 結衣 Yuiうん、彼はかっこいい！Un, kare wa kakkoii!Yeah, he is cool!
- 陽太 Yota本当にかっこいいよね。Hontou ni kakkoii yo ne.He really is cool, isn't he?
- 結衣 Yuiスタイルも最高だよ。Sutairu mo saikou da yo.His style is also the best.
