-ish, prone to: 〜っぽい
Noun / Verb ます-stem / Adj without い + っぽい
Noun / verb stem / adjective without い + っぽい: “-ish, -like” or “prone to…”. Casual, often pejorative; distinguish it from らしい (typical, positive).
In short
〜っぽい turns a word into an い-adjective meaning “-ish, -like, tending towards…” (子どもっぽい, 白っぽい) or “prone to…” (忘れっぽい, 怒りっぽい). It's a spoken word, often slightly pejorative.
- 彼は三十歳なのに、ちょっと子どもっぽい。かれはさんじゅっさいなのに、ちょっとこどもっぽい。He's thirty, but he's a bit childish.
- 最近、忘れっぽくなった。さいきん、わすれっぽくなった。I've become forgetful lately.
- 白っぽいシャツを買った。しろっぽいしゃつをかった。I bought a whitish shirt.
The basics
っぽい attaches to a word and makes it an い-adjective. Two meanings: a resemblance (“-ish, -like, tending towards”) and a character tendency (“prone to…”). It's very close to English “-ish”, as in “whitish” or “childish”. The result conjugates like any い-adjective: っぽくない, っぽかった, っぽく見える.
He's a bit childish.
- noun
- other
- grammatical form
- その話、うそっぽいね。そのはなし、うそっぽいね。That story sounds like a lie.
- 妹は飽きっぽくて、何をしても続かない。いもうとはあきっぽくて、なにをしてもつづかない。My little sister gets bored easily: she never sticks at anything.
How to form it
With a noun, add っぽい directly. With a verb, take the ます-form without ます (the stem). With an い-adjective, drop the い. Colour words take the root: 白 → 白っぽい.
| Base | Formation | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| noun | Noun + っぽい | 子どもっぽい・うそっぽい・熱っぽい |
| verb | stem + っぽい | 忘れっぽい・怒りっぽい・飽きっぽい |
| い-adjective | without い + っぽい | 安っぽい・黒っぽい |
- この絵は安っぽく見える。このえはやすっぽくみえる。This painting looks tacky.
- 彼は怒りっぽいけど、本当は優しい。かれはおこりっぽいけど、ほんとうはやさしい。He loses his temper easily, but he's kind at heart.
っぽい, らしい, みたい
っぽい: someone or something has traits of X without really being X (or not only). 〜らしい (typical, next point): it is X and has all its qualities; it's a compliment. 〜みたい: it looks like X.
Classic example: 男っぽい (a woman or a man with masculine ways) versus 男らしい (a truly manly man, brave, as a man “should” be).
| Sentence | Nuance |
|---|---|
| 彼女は男っぽい | she has boyish ways |
| 彼は男らしい | he's manly, a real man (compliment) |
| あの人は男みたいだ | he/she looks like a man |
- 大人なのに、子どもっぽいことを言わないで。おとなのに、こどもっぽいことをいわないで。You're an adult — don't say such childish things.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up 男っぽい and 男らしい: the first describes mannerisms, the second compliments someone's manliness.
- Attaching っぽい to the dictionary form: 「忘れるっぽい」 is wrong; it's 忘れっぽい.
- Using it in formal writing or as a compliment: っぽい is casual and often critical.
7 exercises on this point
Particles to choose, sentences to put back in order, translations: marked straight away, then reviewed at the right time. This JLPT N3 point is on the Randen Line (Nature and climate) of the Kyoto lines.