人生を精一杯生きる
jinsei o seiippai ikiru
To live life to the fullest in Japanese is 人生を精一杯生きる (jinsei o seiippai ikiru).
This phrase is used to describe living in a way that makes the most of every opportunity and experience. While 人生を精一杯生きる is a common way to express this sentiment, you can also use 全力で生きる to emphasize living with all your power, strength or effort.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase breaks down as follows: 人生 (jinsei) refers specifically to a person's human life or lifetime, and 生きる (ikiru) means to live.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the dictionary form of the verb 生きる, making it suitable for written mottos or general statements of truth. If you want to express a personal desire to live this way, such as "I want to live life to the fullest", change the verb ending to the '-tai' form: 人生を精一杯生きたい.
How do you pronounce it?
jinsei o seiippai ikiru
Did you know?
- Japanese speakers often express the idea of 'living life' through the concept of 一期一会 (ichigo ichie), which means 'one time, one meeting'. This suggests that the way to live fully is to treat every single encounter as a once-in-a-lifetime event.
- The word 精一杯 (seiippai) literally translates to 'the utmost amount of one's energy' or 'one's full strength'. It evokes the image of a person pouring every drop of their vital force into their existence.
- While 人生 (jinsei) means 'human life', Japanese has a different word 生命 (seimei) for 'biological life'. You cannot substitute 生命 into this phrase without making it sound like a scientific description of a cell surviving.
Examples in context
- 人生を精一杯生きることは大切です。Jinsei o seippai ikiru koto wa taisetsu desu.It is important to live life to the fullest.
