多い
おおい
i-adjective
many, much
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 多い | 多くない |
| Past | 多かった | 多くなかった |
| て form | 多くて | 多くなくて |
| Adverbial | 多く | — |
| Conditional ば | 多ければ | 多くなければ |
| Conditional たら | 多かったら | 多くなかったら |
1.
many, much, numerous
Large in number or amount. The opposite of 少ない (few). Used for both countable and uncountable things.
多い is an i-adjective meaning "many" or "much."
Watch out
多い rarely stands alone in front of a noun: × 多い人 for "many people". Instead:
- 人が多い: there are many people (predicative)
- 多くの人: many people (attributive, a little formal)
- たくさんの人: many people (everyday)
It does modify a noun when it has its own subject inside the clause: 雨の多い町 (a town with a lot of rain), 友達が多い人 (a person with many friends).
Similar words
- 少ない: few, little — the antonym; it modifies nouns directly a little more freely (少ない予算, a small budget)