言い訳

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
言 訳
い
Grade: 2 		わけ
Grade: 6
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
言い譯 (kyūjitai)

Pronunciation

Noun

言(い)い訳(わけ) • (iiwake) 

  1. excuse
    Synonym: 口実 (kōjitsu)
    しかし、それは言(い)い訳(わけ)にはならない。
    Shikashi, sore wa iiwake ni wa naranai.
    However, that is no excuse.
  2. apology
    言(い)い訳(わけ)の手紙(てがみ)
    iiwake no tegami
    Letter of apology
  3. explanation
    ジョンは自分(じぶん)の言(い)い訳(わけ)が正(ただ)しいと主張(しゅちょう)した。
    Jon wa jibun no iiwake ga tadashii to shuchō shita.
    John insisted that he was right.

Verb

言(い)い訳(わけ)する • (iiwake suru) transitive suru (stem 言(い)い訳(わけ)し (iiwake shi), past 言(い)い訳(わけ)した (iiwake shita))

  1. give an excuse
  2. apologize

Conjugation

Conjugation of "言い訳する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 言い訳し いいわけし iiwake shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 言い訳し いいわけし iiwake shi
Shūshikei ("terminal") 言い訳する いいわけする iiwake suru
Rentaikei ("attributive") 言い訳する いいわけする iiwake suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 言い訳すれ いいわけすれ iiwake sure
Meireikei ("imperative") 言い訳せよ¹
言い訳しろ² 		いいわけせよ¹
いいわけしろ² 		iiwake seyo¹
iiwake shiro²
Key constructions
Passive 言い訳される いいわけされる iiwake sareru
Causative 言い訳させる
言い訳さす 		いいわけさせる
いいわけさす 		iiwake saseru
iiwake sasu
Potential 言い訳できる いいわけできる iiwake dekiru
Volitional 言い訳しよう いいわけしよう iiwake shiyō
Negative 言い訳しない いいわけしない iiwake shinai
Negative continuative 言い訳せず いいわけせず iiwake sezu
Formal 言い訳します いいわけします iiwake shimasu
Perfective 言い訳した いいわけした iiwake shita
Conjunctive 言い訳して いいわけして iiwake shite
Hypothetical conditional 言い訳すれば いいわけすれば iiwake sureba
¹ Written imperative

² Spoken imperative

Usage notes

When actually expressing regret of mistake or wrongdoing, 申し訳 is almost always used in place of 言い訳 as in "申し訳ない" or any more humble forms by replacing the "ない" part by "ありません", "ございません" or "なく存じます".

Synonyms

References

  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.
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