弱い

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 私はお酒に弱いです。▶ —
   I'm weak with alcohol (low tolerance).
2. 弱い風が吹いています。▶ —
   A weak wind is blowing.

Collocations

Mnemonic

よわい — 弱い, Yamato. An i-adjective. The opposite of 強い tsuyoi. The idiom ~に弱い is subtle ── 'weak at ~' = 'can't handle ~' or 'crumbles before ~'. 暑さに弱い (can't handle the heat), お酒に弱い (can't hold liquor), 子供に弱い (goes soft around children). In the onyomi じゃく jaku ── 弱点 jakuten (weak point), 弱者 jakusha (the weak), 強弱 kyoujaku (strong-weak = musical dynamics). 強弱 fuses 強い and 弱い ── two opposites joining hands inside one word to become a musical term. The Korean reading yak is sister to the onyomi じゃく.

Quick check

1. "I can't handle cold" in Japanese?

   • 寒さに弱いです samusa ni yowai (idiom)
   • 寒くて弱い (= cold and weak, different)
   • 寒さが弱い (= cold is weak)
   • 弱い寒さ (= weak cold)