忙しかった
isogashikatta
In Japanese, "I was busy" is said as 忙しかった (isogashikatta).
A statement used to say that you had a lot of work or activities to do in the past.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The form 忙しかった is used in casual conversation with friends or family. For a polite version, you can add です to the end of the past tense form to get 忙しかったです. In more formal settings, you might use the phrase 多忙な日々を送っていました to mean "I was experiencing busy days."
How does it change in a sentence?
You can also add んだ to the end of 忙しかった to create 忙しかったんだ, which adds an explanatory tone often used when providing a reason or excuse.
How do you pronounce it?
isogashikatta
Did you know?
- The kanji for busy 忙 is composed of the radicals for 'heart' and 'fire', visually representing a heart burning or rushing under pressure.
- In Japanese, the concept of being busy can be expressed by saying your 'hands' are full or 'body' is occupied, often using terms like 手が離せない (te ga hanasenai).
- In social interactions, saying 忙しかった is often used as a 'social lubricant' or a polite apology rather than a literal report of a person's schedule.
Examples in context
- 昨日は忙しかったんだよ。I was busy yesterday.This sentence shows how to use 忙しかった to talk about being busy yesterday.Tatoeba #9927372 by bunbuku, translation #257809 by CK
- 返事が遅れてごめんなさい。忙しかったもので。Sorry I didn't reply to your message earlier, I was busy.This sentence uses 忙しかった as a way to explain why a reply was delayed.Tatoeba #6565675 by small_snow, translation #6565672 by User77813
- 先週は忙しかったので、勉強ができませんでした。I was busy last week, so I couldn't study.This sentence uses 忙しかった to explain that being busy prevented studying last week.Tatoeba #11004990 by KK_kaku_, translation #11007786 by CK
- はい、忙しい日々を過ごしていました。Yes, I've been spending busy days.
- うん、めちゃくちゃ忙しかったよ。Yeah, I was extremely busy.
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are catching up via a phone call.
- 大翔 Hiroto最近、元気だった？Saikin, genki datta?Have you been doing well lately?
- 美咲 Misaki仕事でずっと忙しかったんだ。Shigoto de zutto isogashikatta nda.I was busy with work the whole time.
- 大翔 Hirotoそれは大変だったね。Sore wa taihen datta ne.That must have been tough.
- 美咲 Misakiうん、やっと落ち着いたよ。Un, yatto ochitsuita yo.Yeah, things have finally settled down.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
