111 - "Important" Words

How many synonyms do you know for the word "important?"

Or maybe I should say, how many words do you know that have the same meaning as "important?" Because while words like, "crucial, vital, significant," and so on might be considered synonyms, their nuances vary quite a bit, yeah?

In Japanese, though, we have quite a few true synonyms for this word.

Do you know how to say "important" in Japanese?

I have 4 extremely common words that get translated to "important" that I'll introduce today:

大切
たいせつ
important; valuable

大事
だいじ
important; valuable; serious

重要
じゅうよう
important; momentous; essential

重大
じゅうだい
important; serious; significant


Serious Student Questions

Because you're such a serious student, perhaps you now have two questions:

Q #1: Do I really need to learn all four of these?
A: Yes.

Q #2: What are the differences between these words?
A: Almost nothing.

Before I even try to explain the differences in nuances and meanings (which I'm not sure I understand myself... yet...), let's just look at example sentences for each one first. Then we can worry about nuances and other nightmares.


Quick Kanji Breakdown

= large; big

= cut

= matter; thing

= heavy

= need


Quick Kanji-Word Breakdown

大 + 切 = 大切(たいせつ
large + cut = important
(...because you might bleed to death)

大 + 事 = 大事(だいじ
big + matter = important

重 + 要 = 重要(じゅうよう
heavy + need = important

重 + 大 = 重大(じゅうだい
heavy + big = important

In other words, we're lucky, because these kanji combos make sense. Unlike, say, 親切(しんせつ // kind), which calls for you to "cut" (切) your "parents" (親)... because that's a... well... a kind thing to do?


家族を大切にする。
かぞく を たいせつ に する。
I value my family. // to value one's family
Literally: "family + を + important + make into."
Note: So to "make your family into something important" is to value it.

大切な書類失くしちゃった。
たいせつ な しょるい なくしちゃった。
I lost an important document. // I lost some important documents.
Literally: "important + document + lost."
Note: We looked at ~ちゃった in the last lesson.

ありがとう!大切に使うね。
ありがとう! たいせつ に つかう ね。
Thank you! I'll use it carefully.
Literally: "thank you! + importantly + use + ね."
Note: Dictionaries sometimes translate 大切に as "with caution; with great care." It sounds like the speaker is talking about how they're going to value some gift they got while using it.


明日は大事な会議がある。
あした は だいじ な かいぎ が ある。
There is an important meeting tomorrow.

お大事に。
おだいじに。
Take care (of yourself).
Note: You say this to someone when they are sick or have suffered an injury of some kind. It's a set phrase.

仕事と勉強どっちが大事?
しごと と べんきょう どっち が だいじ?
Which is more important, work or studies?
Literally: "work + and + studies + which + が + important?"


子供の教育は重要だ。
こども の きょういく は じゅうよう だ。
Children's education is important.
Literally: "child + の + education + は + important + is."

重要なのは結果よりも過程である。
じゅうよう なのは けっか より も かてい で ある。
The process is more important than the results.
Literally: "important + なのは + result + more than (=よりも) + process + is."
Note: Since 重要 is a な-adjective, it can't be the topic/subject of our sentence unless we turn it into a noun by adding なの, to which は, our "topic marker," is attaching. Also, である is just a stiff, formal, (usually written) way to say ですor だ, "is."


大統領から重大な発表があります。
だいとうりょう から じゅうだい な はっぴょう が あります。
We have an important announcement from the president.
Literally: "president + from + important + announcement + が + have/is."

人口爆発は重大な問題である。
じんこうばくはつ は じゅうだい な もんだい で ある。
The population explosion is a serious problem.
Literally: "population explosion + は + important + problem + is."


So what are the differences, then?

Well... there are only very small differences.

A few hours before writing this, I was going over these sentences with Rei, and I asked her what the differences are between these four words.

Her initial answer was this: They're all the same and interchangeable.

But wait! I said, you can say 大切な人 or 大事な人 but I've never heard someone say 重大な人:

 大切な人(たいせつなひと // loved one [=important person]
 大事な人(だいじなひと // loved one [=important person]
 重大な人(じゅうだいなひと).

Her answer: Oh yeah, we don't say 重大な人.

After lots of pondering, this is the conclusion I came to:

大切 and 大事 mean "important" in a general sense, and they are both interchangeable. Also, they can both be used to say that something is "important" in the sense that it is "needed" (i.e. it can replace 重要). But they do not mean 重大 which means "important" in the sense that someone is "of grave importance/seriousness."

So, with that in mind, let's look at how many of these sentences we can rewrite with different words.

If a word is OK to use, then it will be highlighted in this lime green color. If a word is not acceptable, it will be highlighted in red . And if a word requires an explanation, it will be in light blue .

家族を(大切大事重要重大)にする。
かぞく を (たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい) に する。
I value my family. // to value one's family

大切大事重要重大)な書類失くしちゃった。
(たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい) な しょるい なくしちゃった。
I lost an important document. // I lost some important documents.

ありがとう!(大切大事重要重大)に使うね。
ありがとう! (たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい) に つかう ね。
Thank you! I'll use it carefully.

明日は(大切大事 重要重大)な会議がある。
あした は (たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい) な かいぎ が ある。
There is an important meeting tomorrow.

お(大切 大事重要重大)に。
お(たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい)に。
Take care (of yourself).
Note: お大事に is a set phrase, which is why none of others work.

仕事と勉強どっちが(大切大事重要重大)?
しごと と べんきょう どっち が (たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい)?
Which is more important, work or studies?

子供の教育は(大切大事重要重大)だ。
こども の きょういく は (たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい) だ。
Children's education is important.

大切大事重要重大)なのは結果よりも過程である。
(たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい) なのは けっか より も かてい で ある。
The process is more important than the results.

大統領から(大切大事重要 重大)な発表があります。
だいとうりょう から (たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい) な はっぴょう が あります。
We have an important announcement from the president.
Note: 大切 and 大事 would be OK here, but it wouldn't actually sound like a very important announcement. It's sounds considerable "lighter" (maybe because it doesn't have any "heavy" kanji ^^).

人口爆発は(大切大事重要重大)な問題である。
じんこうばくはつ は (たいせつ ・ だいじ ・ じゅうよう ・ じゅうだい) な もんだい で ある。
The population explosion is a serious problem.

At the end of all of that, I'm not sure if I'm more or less confused about these words.

Earlier I said that 大切 and 大事 are "important" in a general sense, and I think that's true. But it's worth pointing out that things that are 大事 and 大切 are usually good or valuable. That's why we use it above for "family, documents, meeting, work, studies, results, and processes." But they don't make sense when used with a negative word like 問題(もんだい // problem).

Similarly, since 重要 has the kanji for "need," 要, it is used for things that are "important" in a sense of being "(heavily) needed." So it works in most cases where 大切 and 大事 work, with a few exceptions (like the top sentence above).

重大 is "important" in the sense that something is "heavy" or "serious." Perhaps this is the reason that I've (probably) never seen it used in a positive way.

Like I always say, though, all that really matters is absorbing these nuances naturally over time. Then, compact dissections like this can boost our absorbing speed... if we feel like reading through a dense Japanese lesson!

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