How to Say ‘That sounds hard.’ in Japanese
それはつらいね。
sore wa tsurai ne
[soh-reh wah tsoo-rah-ee neh]
💬 Usage Tip: A warm, supportive response. [それは] reacts to the situation, and [ね] adds sympathy and connection.
🇯🇵 In Japan: In Japanese, acknowledging someone’s pain gently is often more natural than immediately giving advice. This phrase does that beautifully.
Phrase Breakdown
それは
sore wa
that; as for that
Points to the situation mentioned before and makes it the topic.
それは大変だ。
That’s tough.
Words in this phrase
それ
sore
[soh-reh]
that
Points to the situation the other person mentioned.
それはつらいね。
That sounds hard.
は
wa
[wah]
topic marker
Marks それ as the topic; pronounced wa.
それはつらいね。
That sounds hard.
つらいね
tsurai ne
that’s painful/hard, isn’t it
つらい means emotionally or physically hard/painful. ね softens it and seeks agreement.
つらいね。
That’s hard, isn’t it.
Words in this phrase
つらい
tsurai
[tsoo-rah-ee]
painful; hard; tough
Shows that something is emotionally difficult.
それはつらいね。
That sounds hard.
ね
ne
[neh]
isn’t it; right
Adds softness and empathy to the statement.
それはつらいね。
That sounds hard.
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