How to Say ‘That is tough / painful, isn’t it?’ in Japanese
つらいね
tsurai ne
[tsoo-rah-ee neh]
💬 Usage Tip: [つらい] means emotionally or physically painful, hard, or rough. The [ね] seeks shared feeling, like “isn’t it” or “that must be hard, huh.”
🇯🇵 In Japan: The ending [ね] is great for empathy. It invites emotional connection rather than sounding cold or purely factual.
Phrase Breakdown
つらい
tsurai
[tsoo-rah-ee]
painful; hard; tough
Used for emotional or physical hardship; here it expresses sympathy.
それはつらいですね。
That sounds really hard.
ね
ne
[neh]
isn’t it; right
Sentence-ending particle that seeks agreement or shows empathy.
大変だね。
That’s tough, isn’t it.
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