辛(つら)い

つらい

i-adjective

hard, painful, difficult

Conjugation

	Affirmative	Negative
Present	辛(つら)い	辛(つら)くない
Past	辛(つら)かった	辛(つら)くなかった
て form	辛(つら)くて	辛(つら)くなくて
Adverbial	辛(つら)く	—
Conditional ば	辛(つら)ければ	辛(つら)くなければ
Conditional たら	辛(つら)かったら	辛(つら)くなかったら

1. hard, painful, difficult to bear

Describing something emotionally or physically difficult to endure. Expresses suffering or hardship.

辛(つら)い時(とき)だ。

It's a hard time.

仕事(しごと)が辛(つら)いです。

Work is hard/painful.

Expressing that work is difficult to endure

別(わか)れるのは辛(つら)かった。

Parting was painful.

辛(つら)いことがあったら、話(はな)してください。

If something difficult happens, please talk to me.

一人(ひとり)で辛(つら)い気持(きも)ちを抱(かか)えないでください。誰(だれ)かに相談(そうだん)することが大切(たいせつ)です。

Please don't keep your painful feelings to yourself. It's important to talk to someone.

辛(つら)い describes something emotionally or physically painful and hard to endure. It is broader than 痛(いた)い (physical pain) and more personal than 大変(たいへん) (tough, a lot of work): 大変(たいへん) describes the situation, 辛(つら)い how it feels to the person going through it.

Common collocations

辛(つら)い経験(けいけん): a painful experience
辛(つら)い思(おも)いをする: to go through a hard time
辛(つら)い時期(じき): a hard period

Similar words

苦(くる)しい: suffering under strain, physical (breathing, pain) or financial (生活(せいかつ)が苦(くる)しい). 辛(つら)い is the general word for emotional hardship.

Forms

After a verb stem, -づらい means "hard to do" from the doer's side: 言(い)いづらい (hard to say), 読(よ)みづらい (hard to read).

Writing

The same kanji is read 辛(から)い (spicy, hot). To avoid the ambiguity, つらい is often written in kana.

Related Words

Related: 痛(いた)い (physical pain)

Related: 大変(たいへん) (tough, difficult)

Related: 辛(から)い (same kanji, read からい (spicy))

Compare: 苦(くる)しい (suffering under strain, physical…)

core

Added 2026.1.7 21:12 · Revised 2026.10.1 13:22

01000/01112_tsurai