低い
ひくい
i-adjective
low, short
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 低い | 低くない |
| Past | 低かった | 低くなかった |
| て form | 低くて | 低くなくて |
| Adverbial | 低く | — |
| Conditional ば | 低ければ | 低くなければ |
| Conditional たら | 低かったら | 低くなかったら |
1.
low (in height or position)
Not high; close to the ground or bottom.
2.
short (in stature)
Not tall (referring to people).
3.
low (in degree, level, or quality)
Below average or standard.
低い is an i-adjective meaning low (height/position), short (stature), or low (degree/level).
Usage
低い spans physical lowness (height, position), low pitch (voice, sound), and a low level or degree (temperature, quality, probability). The thing that is low is marked with が.
For people's height, use 背が低い, not just 低い alone. Saying 彼は低い sounds unnatural; say 彼は背が低い instead.
Forms
- Adverbial: 低く (低く飛ぶ: fly low)
- Noun form: 低さ (lowness)
Common collocations
- 背が低い: short (height of people)
- 声が低い: low voice
- 気温が低い: low temperature
- 確率が低い: low probability
- 品質が低い: low quality
Similar words
Opposite of 高い (high, tall, expensive).