Skip to content
道Nihongo Path

Word 81 of 1691

Save Sign in to track

偉い

えらい

great, admirable

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 毎日勉強して偉いですね。

    まいにちべんきょうしてえらいですね。

    Studying every day, how admirable.

  2. 彼は会社で偉い人です。

    かれはかいしゃでえらいひとです。

    He is an important person at the company.

  3. 一人で全部片付けて偉かったね。

    ひとりでぜんぶかたづけてえらかったね。

    You cleaned it all up by yourself — well done.

  4. 偉くなっても友達を大事にしてください。

    えらくなってもともだちをだいじにしてください。

    Even when you rise in the world, please treasure your friends.

Common patterns

偉い人
an important person, a bigwig
偉くなる
to rise in rank
偉いね
good job, well done

Memory tip

偉いね is praise for effort, and it is normally said downward — to a child or a junior — so praising your boss with it sounds patronising. The other sense, 偉い人, simply means someone high up in a hierarchy.

Kanji in this word

Quick check

1 / 2Multiple choiceDifficulty 3 of 5

What does 偉い mean?