Explore 忙 in everyday descriptions of a busy person and in the more formal word 多忙.
The idea
忙 has six strokes; follow the linked diagram. 忙しい is read いそがしい and is an i-adjective: 忙しくない is negative and 忙しかった is past. 多忙（たぼう） is a na-adjective: use 多忙な before a noun.
Examples
- 今日は仕事で忙しいです。I am busy with work today.
- 母は昨日忙しかったです。My mother was busy yesterday.
- 今日の午後は忙しくないです。I am not busy this afternoon.
- 忙しいときは、リストを作ります。When I am busy, I make a list.
- 先生は今週とても忙しいです。The teacher is very busy this week.
- 彼女は多忙な中、返事をしました。Despite her busy schedule, she replied.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No Japanese device voice is available. You can still read the text and use the linked listening resources.
Watch out
Do not read every occurrence of 忙 as いそが: 多忙 uses ぼう. Keep the final い in 忙しい when looking up the word, but replace it when forming the negative or past.
Try it yourself
Write the reading of 忙しい in hiragana.
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いそがしい
忙しい is いそがしい; learn the reading together with the adjective ending.
Write the reading of 多忙 in hiragana.
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たぼう
多忙 is たぼう. The compound uses the reading ぼう for 忙.
Complete the polite past: 昨日は忙＿です。
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しかった
しかった completes 忙しかったです. Replace the final い of 忙しい with かった for the past.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Japanese sentences where available. We keep your score.
Write the reading of 忙しい in hiragana.
Write the reading of 多忙 in hiragana.
Complete the polite past: 昨日は忙＿です。
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Write 忙 following the diagram. Read both words aloud, then describe a busy day and a day when you were not busy.