Lesson 23 · about 5 minutes

Tasty, expensive, cheap, good

oishii · takai · yasui · ii

おいしい・たかい・やすい・いい

You'll learn four adjectives that show up constantly in shops and food talk.

The words

RomajiJapaneseReadingMeaning
oishiiおいしいおいしいtasty / delicious
takaiたかいたかいexpensive (also "tall/high" — price sense first here)
yasuiやすいやすいcheap / inexpensive
iiいいいいgood

How they differ

These describe nouns. In polite talk they often sit before です:

「おいしい です。」(oishii desu): It's tasty.

「たかい です。」(takai desu): It's expensive.

「いい です。」(ii desu): It's good. / That's fine.

Before a noun: 「おいしい ラーメン」(oishii raamen) "tasty ramen," 「やすい カフェ」(yasui kafe) "a cheap café."

いい (ii) is the everyday form you'll hear; よい (yoi) is the same idea in more formal or set phrases.

Shop check: taste · price up · price down · good. おいしい = yum, たかい = pricey, やすい = a deal, いい = good/fine.

One line: おいしい・たかい・やすい・いい.

Next: Like and dislike: すき / きらい (suki / kirai).

See it in a sentence

  1. kore, oishii desu

    これ、おいしい です。

    This is tasty. (polite)

  2. chotto takai desu

    ちょっと たかい です。

    It's a bit expensive. (polite)

  3. sore wa yasui desu

    それは やすい です。

    That one's cheap. (polite)

  4. ii desu

    いい です。

    That's good. / I'm fine. (polite)

  5. dore ga ii desu ka?

    どれ が いい ですか?

    Which one is good? (polite)

Watch out

たかい (takai) = expensive (here) / やすい (yasui) = cheap いい (ii) = good / fine — also shows up in soft refusals later (「いい です」= I'm fine / no thanks) おいしい (oishii) = tasty — about food/drink taste, not "good" in general

Try it

  1. In your next story, find おいしい, たかい, やすい, or いい. Say the line out loud and say whether it's about taste, price, or "good/fine."

    Check against the lesson cluster and say it out loud.