VocabularyJLPT N5 · core

遠い

とおい

hepburn tooi

far, distant

Part of speech · i-adjective

Pattern visualization

遠far

Show part origins

Show stroke order animation

Numbers13 strokes · 9.0s

See full reference →

Examples

うちから駅まで遠いです。
It's far from my house to the station.
彼の家は遠いところにあります。
His house is in a faraway place.

Collocations

遠い (tooi, far)遠く (tooku, far away, in the distance)遠足 (ensoku, field trip / picnic — "far step")遠慮 (enryo, restraint / hesitation — "far thought")永遠 (eien, eternity)

Mnemonic

遠い tooi — opposite of 近い. Onyomi えん (en): 遠足 (ensoku, school excursion — "far step"), 遠慮 (enryo, reserve/restraint — "thinking from afar", i.e. keeping distance, politely declining). 永遠 (eien, eternity). Set phrase 遠慮なく (enryo naku) = "without restraint, please help yourself" — must-know hospitality formula. Kanji 遠 = 辶 (walk) + 袁 (long robe trailing) → seeing a robe long means it's far. Spans space, time, and emotional distance equally.

Quick check

Common Japanese phrase to a guest meaning "please help yourself without holding back"?