暇(ひま)

暇(ひま) works as a noun (free time) and as a na-adjective (not busy).

Usage

• As a na-adjective it modifies with な: 暇(ひま)な時(とき) (when you are free)
• As a noun it pairs with ある and ない: 暇(ひま)がある (to have time to spare)
• Calling someone else 暇(ひま)な人(ひと) can imply they have nothing worth doing, so with a superior or a customer ask 時間(じかん)があるか instead. Said of yourself, 暇(ひま)です is friendly and completely normal.

Common collocations

• 暇(ひま)がある / 暇(ひま)がない: to have / not have free time
• 暇(ひま)をつぶす, 暇(ひま)つぶし: to kill time; a time-killer
• お暇(ひま)ですか: are you free? (the honorific お goes on when the time is someone else's)

Watch out

The polite phrase for taking one's leave is お暇(いとま)する, read おいとま, not おひま. The kanji is shared; the reading and the meaning are not.

Similar words

忙(いそが)しい (busy) is the everyday opposite. Note that it is an i-adjective while 暇(ひま) is a na-adjective, so the two do not conjugate alike.