Maddies Manga

Today, let’s take a look at a word that’s commonly found when looking at compliments: pretty!

Not just used by friends to compliment each other though, in Japanese, this word can also be used to mean “clean”, or “healthy” in certain cases!

*Please note that while this word does have kanji characters, we often write it just using hiragana!

Example Sentences

First, let’s try…: “Yesterday, Kento told me I’m pretty!”. Let’s pay attention to the tense! We’re going to say this in a neutrally polite voice.

Now, let’s make a word bank:

English	Hiragana / Katakana	Kanji	Romaji (reading)
Yesterday	きのう	昨日	Kinou
Kento	けんと	N/A	Kento
Pretty	きれい	綺麗	Kirei
To say (te form)	いって	言って	Itte
To do the favour of…	くれました	N/A	Kuremashita

Now, let’s write it out in romaji!:

“Kinou Kento ga kirei da to itte kuremashita.”

Let’s change it to hiragana:

“きのう　けんと　が　きれい　だ　と　いって　くれました。”

And lastly, let’s add in the kanji:

”昨日　けんと　が　綺麗　だ　と　言って　くれました。”

The use of the particle “ga” in this sentence puts emphasis on Kento! As in “not just anyone, but Kento said it.”

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What if we want to say… “You’re covered in mud… Please get cleaned up.” or “Aren’t you just covered in mud… Please get cleaned up.” There’s a negative in the first half, so pay attention!

First up, we need a word bank!

English	Hiragana	Kanji	Romaji (reading)
Mud	どろ	泥	Doro
Covered in	だらか	N/A	Darake
Pretty / clean	きれい	綺麗	Kirei
To do (te form)	して	N/A	Shite
Please	ください	N/A	Kudasai

Now that we know all of the relevant words, let’s put them together in a sentence!

First, in romaji only:

” Doro darake janai desu ka… kirei ni shite kudasai.”

Now using hiragana:

“どろ　だかけ　じゃない　です　か。。。きれい　に　して　ください。”

Now let’s add in the kanji:

”泥　だらけ　じゃない　です　か。。。綺麗　に　して　ください。”

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Let’s try one more sentence! What if we want to say… “I want a boyfriend who tells me I’m pretty every morning!“?

Let’s get the word bank started!

English	Hiragana / Katakana	Kanji	Romaji (reading)
Every morning	まいあさ	毎朝	Maiasa
Pretty	きれい	綺麗	Kirei
To say (te form)	いって	言って	Itte
To do the favour of	くれる	N/A	Kureru
Boyfriend	かれし	彼氏	Kareshi
*To want	ほしい	欲しい	Hoshii

*There are many different ways to say “to want something” in Japanese, so be careful! In this circumstance, we’re using it to say that we want a noun

Alright, let’s make some sentences!

First, using romaji only:

“Maiasa kirei da to itte kureru kareshi ga hoshii desu.”

Now using hiragana:

“まいあさ　きれい　だ　と　いって　くれる　かれし　が　ほしい　です。”

Now let’s add in the kanji:

”毎朝　綺麗　だ　と　言って　くれる　彼氏　が　欲しい　です。”

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And that’s Kirei! Have you heard this phrase before?

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Was my post helpful? I hope you learnt something! If you want to support me so that I can continue to share my love of all things shoujo, you can always buy me a coffee!