Japanese Words & Expressions

+ Busy +

Many Japanese people work overtime, but it appears that engineers are among the busiest. My brother is an electrical engineer, and he works fourteen to fifteen hours a day. Isn' it crazy? Can you imagine that you work until midnight, catch the last train, go home, sleep for four or five hours, and then go back to work at 8:00 a.m.? It's pretty insane.

Okay, here's the word you are going to learn:

isogashii
いそがしい
忙しい

Meaning:

busy

Pronunciation:

The sound of the first syllable "i" is "ee" (as in meet) with a much shorter vowel sound. Then, "so" is pronounced like the English word so. The third syllable "ga" is like "go" as in govern. When you pronounce "g," it should sound more like "g" of ring. The last syllable has the sound similar to she.

*You may see "shii" as "shi + i," but when you see two i's, they are usually considered as one long vowel and pronounce like "ee." When you say this, your lips are not supposed to stick out much.

Tips:

You can use it as an interrogative phrase/sentence. Make sure to raise the pitch like an interrogative sentence in English.

Ima isogashii?
いまいそがし？
今忙しい？
(Are you busy now?)

* ima
いま
今
(now)

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Japanese Words & Expressions

+ Busy +