人生が嫌い
jinsei ga kirai
To say "I hate my life" in Japanese, you can say 人生が嫌い (jinsei ga kirai).
人生が嫌い expresses deep unhappiness with your life or your current circumstances. Japanese usually leaves out the word for I (watashi) when it is clear you are talking about yourself.
What does it mean word for word?
人生 (jinsei) means life, in the sense of the course of a person's life or human existence. が is a particle, and 嫌い (kirai) means disliked or hated.
Which one should you use?
The full sentence 私は人生が嫌いです。 says I hate my life in a formal way. A rough informal alternative is 人生がクソだな, meaning life sucks.
How does it change in a sentence?
Adding da to make 人生が嫌いだ turns the phrase into a complete, assertive sentence, often used in masculine or neutral speech. Adding desu instead makes it polite.
How do you pronounce it?
It is pronounced jinsei ga kirai.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Use kirai rather than nikui here. kirai is the common word for a general dislike of your circumstances, while nikui is used for things that are inherently loathsome.
Did you know?
- In modern youth slang, the phrase 人生詰んだ (jinsei tsunda) is frequently used to express the feeling that life is over. It comes from the game of Shogi, where tsunda refers to a king being checkmated with no way out.
- Japanese has a concept called shikata ga nai, meaning 'it cannot be helped'. People often follow an expression of hating their life with this phrase to signal a resignation to fate, which is a cultural trait known as 'resignation' or 'acceptance'.
- When expressing extreme frustration with life, Japanese speakers might use the word muri ('impossible') as a shorthand. Saying muri while sighing often conveys the same sentiment as 'I can't do this life anymore' without using the word 'hate'.
Examples in context
- もう、人生が嫌いになった。Mou, jinsei ga kirai ni natta.I've come to hate my life.
Example conversation
Two siblings are talking after a very bad day at school.
- 陽葵 Himari最悪な一日だった。もう人生が嫌い。saiaku na ichinichi datta. mō jinsei ga kirai.It was the worst day. I hate my life.
- 陽太 Yotaそんなに落ち込まないでよ。sonna ni ochikomanaide yo.Don't be so depressed.
- 陽葵 Himariだって、全部ダメだったんだもん。datte, zenbu dame datta n da mon.But everything went wrong.
- 陽太 Yota明日になればきっと大丈夫だよ。ashita ni nareba kitto daijōbu da yo.I'm sure it'll be okay by tomorrow.
