壊れやすい
こわれやすい
i-adjective
fragile; easily broken; delicate
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 壊れやすい | 壊れやすくない |
| Past | 壊れやすかった | 壊れやすくなかった |
| て form | 壊れやすくて | 壊れやすくなくて |
| Adverbial | 壊れやすく | — |
| Conditional ば | 壊れやすければ | 壊れやすくなければ |
| Conditional たら | 壊れやすかったら | 壊れやすくなかったら |
1.
fragile; easily broken; delicate
Liable to break or be damaged, either physically or figuratively.
ガラスは壊れやすい。
Glass is fragile.
壊れやすい物は丁寧に運んでください。
Please carry fragile items carefully.
この機械は精密で壊れやすいので、衝撃を与えないように気をつけてください。
This machine is delicate and easily broken, so please be careful not to subject it to shocks.
Formed from 壊れる (to break) + やすい (easy to). This is a productive grammatical pattern in Japanese where verb stem + やすい means "easy to do" or "prone to."
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 壊れやすい物: fragile item
- 壊れやすい素材: fragile material
- 壊れやすい関係: fragile relationship
USAGE:
Often seen on packaging and shipping labels. The formal equivalent for labeling is 取扱注意 (handle with care) or ワレモノ注意 (fragile — caution).
SIMILAR WORDS:
- もろい: brittle, fragile — emphasizes structural weakness
- デリケートな: delicate — loanword, often for sensitive topics or skin
- 脆弱な: vulnerable, fragile — formal, often used for systems or security