辛い食べ物
karai tabemono
The English phrase "spicy food" is translated into Japanese as 辛い食べ物 (karai tabemono).
辛い食べ物 is used to describe food that has a strong, hot flavor from ingredients like chili peppers. You can use the adjective 辛い (karai) to mean "spicy" or "hot" in terms of flavor. For example, if you want to talk about spicy noodles, you would say 辛い麺 (karai men).
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase consists of the adjective 辛い (karai), which means "spicy" or "hot" and the noun 食べ物 (tabemono), which means "food".
How does it change in a sentence?
In Japanese, the adjective 辛い (karai) directly precedes the noun 食べ物 (tabemono) to modify it, just as in English.
How do you pronounce it?
karai tabemono
Did you know?
- The word 辛い is a homograph with two different meanings. While it means 'spicy' when read as karai, it means 'painful' or 'hard' when read as tsurai.
- When expressing that food is too spicy to handle, Japanese speakers often use the word 痛い (itai), meaning 'painful', to describe the physical sensation of the heat. This emphasizes the actual sting on the tongue.
- The concept of 'spicy' in Japan is heavily tied to the ingredient 唐辛子 (tougarashi), which literally translates to 'Chinese pepper'.
Examples in context
- 「辛い食べ物って、好き？」「好き好き」"Do you like spicy food?" "I love it."This sentence shows how to express a preference for 辛い食べ物.Tatoeba #11727266 by small_snow, translation #2961500 by meerkat
- 多くの人々は、辛い食べ物が苦手だ。A lot of people don't like spicy food.This sentence uses 苦手 to show that many people struggle to tolerate the heat of 辛い食べ物.Tatoeba #10673584 by h_aibe, translation #10672089 by CK
- Watashi wa Karai ryōri ga suki desu (私は辛い料理が好きです)I like spicy food
- 辛い食べ物はあまり食べません。Karai tabemono wa amari tabemasen.I don't eat much spicy food.
Example conversation
Yui and Ren are deciding what to eat for dinner.
- 結衣 Yui今日の夕食は、辛い食べ物がいいな。Kyou no yuushoku wa, karai tabemono ga ii na.I feel like having some spicy food for dinner today.
- 蓮 Renいいですね。タイ料理はどうですか？Ii desu ne. Tai ryouri wa dou desu ka?That sounds good. How about Thai food?
- 結衣 Yuiいいですね！蓮くんは辛いのが大丈夫？Ii desu ne! Ren-kun wa karai no ga daijoubu?Great! Ren, can you handle spicy food?
- 蓮 Renはい、大好きですよ。Hai, daisuki desu yo.Yes, I love it.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
