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Japanese Phrase Lesson 8: Happiness （うれしい！しあわせ！） – Review Notes
Today we learned two ways to say “I’m happy” in Japanese. In this review we will go over the differences between the two and give examples of their use.
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Number 1:
★ Ureshii means “happy.” It is usually used for short term happiness, such as receiving a gift.
★ When used as an exclamation, it means “I’m happy.”
★ If you want to be more formal, you can say “ureshii desu.”
★ If you want to say you were happy (past tense) you can say “ureshikatta (desu).”
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Example:
来てくれて嬉しかったです。
kitekurete ureshikatta desu.
I was happy you came.
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Number 2:
★ Shiawase also means happy, but it is usually used for more deep or long term happiness.
★ If you want to be more formal, you can say “shiawase desu.”
★ You can use shiawase by itself to mean “I’m happy” or as part of a longer sentence, like the one below.
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Example:
君を幸せにする。
Kimi wo shiawase ni suru.
I will make you happy.
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Conclusion:
Both shiawase and ureshii mean happy, but they are used differently based on the length of time and the depth of the emotion. They can both be used by themselves as an exclamation, or in a full sentence as an adjective.
このレビューをよんでくれてうれしいです!
kono rebyū o yonde kurete ureshii desu!
I am happy that you read this review!
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しあわせ☆（Shiawase）
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6 comments
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Comment by MaryFrances on 04/24/2013 at 1:35 amすごい！
Is it correct when you say happy as in adjective you use ureshii or shiawasei? Like; I am a happy child – 私はうれしい子。 or 私は幸せい子。
Please correct me if I made a mistake. I am new to Japanese.
Comment by Rebekka on 04/03/2014 at 3:24 pm幸せ (Shiawase) is actually a na-adjective, so you could say 私は幸せな人です。(I am a happy person). 幸せ (Shiawase) is used more like the state of being happy (usually for a long period of time, or in a more profound way). うれしい (ureshii) is used more for momentary happiness like when you receive a gift or someone compliments you. Hope that helps! (◕ω◕)♥
Comment by PuniPuni on 04/10/2014 at 9:25 amTo say “You are a happy person today,” would “今日、あなたはうれしい人です！” be correct?
Comment by Spensyr on 10/19/2014 at 1:14 pmI am not quite sure of the situation in which you would say “You are a happy person today” so it sounds strange to me. It would seem more natural to say something like, “You look happy today.” 今日は嬉しそうですね。（きょうはうれしそうですね。）because you can’t really know that they are happy although you can guess from the way that they are acting.
Comment by PuniPuni on 10/22/2014 at 7:23 amAh, alright. Well, I always hear phrases like, “You’re happy today!” and “Aren’t you a happy person today?” so I just figured.
Comment by Spensyr on 10/30/2014 at 9:50 pmThanks for the answer!