遠い
とおい
hepburn tooi
far, distant
Part of speech · i-adjective
Pattern visualization
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 — the far side of 近い; shifted into the onyomi えん, its sense scatters wide. 遠足 is a far-going step, 遠慮 is to gauge from afar and draw one pace back. "Enryo naku" means "without holding back" — the set phrase of Japanese hospitality to a guest. The kanji 遠 is 辶 (to walk) + 袁 (a long trailing robe) — a distance where the robe looks long. Distance, time, and the space between hearts — this one character measures them all.
Quick check
Common Japanese phrase to a guest meaning "please help yourself without holding back"?