VocabularyJLPT N5 · core

嫌

いや

hepburn iya

unpleasant, disliked

Part of speech · na-adjective

Pattern visualization

no decomposition available

Examples

その仕事は嫌です、やりたくない。
I dislike that job, I don't want to do it.
嫌な顔をしないでください。
Please don't make an unpleasant face.

Collocations

嫌 (iya, unpleasant)好き (suki, like — antonym)嫌い (kirai, dislike adj.)嫌な (iya na, unpleasant)いやだ (iyada, no way)

Mnemonic

Iya (嫌) is the na-adjective "unpleasant, disagreeable" — an immediate refusal feeling. Same kanji 嫌 anchors kirai (dislike, noun / na-adjective): iya is immediate / situational refusal ("ima wa iya" — not now), kirai is enduring preference negation ("sakana ga kirai" — I dislike fish). Solo "iya da!" is natural in child / female register but unfit for business — formal versions are kekkou desu (no thank you) or go-enryo shimasu (I will decline). Metaphor: iya na kanji (bad feeling), iya na yokan (bad premonition), matching English bad feeling. The exclamation iyaiya (no, no) overlaps with ie-ie (no, no — modest response to praise). Korean "sil-ta / bul-kwae-ha-da / kkeo-ri-da" parallels; iya's immediacy and emotion-baring register requires explicit study.

Quick check

Polite business "no, thank you / I decline"?