多(おお)い

おおい
adjective (i-adjective)
many, much
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present多(おお)い多(おお)くない
Past多(おお)かった多(おお)くなかった
て form多(おお)くて多(おお)くなくて
Adverbial多(おお)く—
Conditional ば多(おお)ければ多(おお)くなければ
Conditional たら多(おお)かったら多(おお)くなかったら
1. many, much, numerous
Large in number or amount. The opposite of 少ない (すくない - few). Used for both countable and uncountable things.
宿題(しゅくだい)が多(おお)い。
There's a lot of homework.
この本(ほん)は字(じ)が多(おお)い。
This book has a lot of text.
今日(きょう)は人(ひと)が多(おお)いですね。
There are many people today, aren't there?
この町(まち)は車(くるま)が多(おお)くて、道(みち)がいつも混(こ)んでいる。
There are many cars in this town, so the roads are always crowded.
最近(さいきん)、雨(あめ)の日(ひ)が多(おお)いから、洗濯物(せんたくもの)が乾(かわ)かない。
There have been many rainy days recently, so the laundry won't dry.

多(おお)い is an i-adjective meaning "many" or "much."

IMPORTANT GRAMMAR:

多(おお)い usually cannot directly modify nouns. You cannot say × 多(おお)い人(ひと). Instead:

  • 人(ひと)が多(おお)い: there are many people (predicative)
  • 多(おお)くの人(ひと): many people (attributive, using くの form)
  • たくさんの人(ひと): many people (alternative)

FORMS:

  • Negative: 多(おお)くない
  • Te-form: 多(おお)くて
  • Past: 多(おお)かった
  • Adverbial: 多(おお)く

CONTRAST:
Opposite of 少(すく)ない (few, little). Both share the restriction of not directly modifying nouns in standard Japanese.

COMMON PATTERNS:

  • 〜が多(おお)い: there are many ~
  • 多(おお)くの〜: many ~ (formal/written)
  • 〜が多(おお)いので: because there are many ~

Related Words

Antonym: 少(すく)ない (few, little)
basic
Added 2026.1.7 21:23 · Revised 2026.4.1 10:21
01000/01127_ooi