いい
いい
i-adjective
good, fine, nice
See also:
良い (formal/literary form)
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | いい | よくない |
| Past | よかった | よくなかった |
| て form | よくて | よくなくて |
| Adverbial | よく | — |
| Conditional ば | よければ | よくなければ |
| Conditional たら | よかったら | よくなかったら |
1.
good, fine, nice
A general positive evaluation. Can describe quality, condition, character, or suitability. One of the most frequently used adjectives in Japanese.
2.
okay, all right (permission/acceptance)
Used to give permission or indicate that something is acceptable. いいですよ (That's fine / Go ahead).
3.
no thank you, I'm fine
Used to politely decline an offer. When someone offers you something, いいです can mean 'No, thank you' or 'I'm fine (without it).'
いい has irregular conjugation — all inflected forms use the stem よ- from the alternate form 良い.
Forms
The form いい is used only in the non-past affirmative (いい, いいです, いい人). 良い is more formal or literary.
Common patterns
- 〜てもいい: may I...? / it's okay to... (permission)
- 〜なくてもいい: don't have to... (no obligation)
- 〜ば/たらいい: should, it would be good to...
- 〜た方がいい: had better..., you should... (advice about a specific action)
Register
In formal speech and service situations, よろしい replaces いい: よろしいですか (Is that all right?).
Watch out
いいです can mean either "that's good/fine" (acceptance) or "no thank you" (refusal), depending on context and intonation. A question like レシートはいいですか means "You don't need the receipt?", so はい、いいです declines it. When declining, いいです is often accompanied by 大丈夫です or a hand gesture.