楽しい
tanoshii[ta̠no̞ɕiː]
tanoshii is the Japanese word for enjoyable.
tanoshii is a common word used to describe something as enjoyable or fun. You can express that a thing is fun by using the structure [noun] + が楽しい. To express that an activity is fun, you can use the structure [verb] + のが楽しい.
Which one should you use?
While 楽しい describes an experience or an activity as being fun, the word ureshii is used to describe a speaker's personal feeling of being happy or glad about a specific event.
How does it change in a sentence?
楽しい is an i-adjective and changes its form depending on the context. The past tense is 楽しかった (it was fun), and the negative form is 楽しくない (it is not fun). The conditional form, meaning 'if it is fun', is 楽しければ. If you want to say that something 'looks fun', you drop the final 'i' and add そう to get 楽しそう.
How do you pronounce it?
tanoshii
Did you know?
- Some scholars once hypothesized that the word could stem from 田神, meaning 'rice paddy god', though no historical reading supports this.
- The word tanoshii is used in the Kojiki, a legendary history of Japan. This means the word has been used to describe enjoyment for over 1,300 years.
- While tanoshii describes an activity as fun, the word ureshii describes the speaker's internal feeling of joy. Mixing them up can make you sound like you are describing your personality instead of your current mood.
Examples in context
- この映画はとても楽しいですね。This movie is very enjoyable, isn't it?
- 今日のパーティー、めっちゃ楽しかったよ！Today's party was so much fun!
- ゲームやるの、超たのしー！Playing games is super fun!
- 旅行が楽しいTraveling is enjoyable.
- 読書するのが楽しいReading is enjoyable.
- 歌うのが楽しいSinging is fun.
- 旅行はとても楽しいです。Ryoko wa totemo tanoshii desu.The trip is very fun.
- 今日は楽しい一日でした。Kyo wa tanoshii ichinichi deshita.Today was a fun day.
- ゲームは楽しいですね。Gemu wa tanoshii desu ne.Games are fun, aren't they?
Example conversation
Misaki and Yota are at a summer festival.
- 美咲 Misaki陽太くん、お祭りは楽しい？Yōta-kun, omatsuri wa tanoshii?Yota, are you having fun at the festival?
- 陽太 Yotaうん、すごく楽しいよ！Un, sugoku tanoshii yo!Yeah, it's really fun!
- 美咲 Misakiよかった。あっちに行こう。Yokatta. Atchi ni ikō.I'm glad. Let's go over there.
- 陽太 Yotaいいよ。行こう！Ii yo. Ikō!Sure. Let's go!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 楽しい, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 楽しい, CC BY-SA 4.0.
