酸っぱい
すっぱい
hepburn suppai
sour
Part of speech · i-adjective
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- このレモンはとても酸っぱい。This lemon is very sour.
- 酸っぱい物が食べたい。I want something sour.
Collocations
酸っぱい (suppai, sour)甘い (amai, sweet)辛い (karai, spicy)苦い (nigai, bitter)塩辛い (shio-karai, salty)
Mnemonic
Suppai (酸っぱい) is an i-adjective — "sour, acidic." One of the five Japanese tastes: amai (sweet), shio-karai (salty), suppai (sour), nigai (bitter), karai (spicy / salty). Sour shows up in umeboshi (pickled plum), su (vinegar), lemons — used to whet appetite and counter summer heat. The kanji 酸 = 酉 (sake jar) + 夋 (wrinkle) — sourness of fermented sake. Morphology: -ppai is a "-like" suffix; same family as mizuppoi (water-like), kodomoppoi (childish). Vocabulary trap: suppai (sour) vs karai (spicy), where karai covers both spicy and salty — a common Japanese pitfall.
Quick check
Range of Japanese karai?