いい

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ii"

Japanese

Alternative forms

• ええ — Kansai, Tōhoku, Chūgoku

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
良い 善い 好い 美い

⟨yo₂si⟩ → */jəsi/ → /joɕi/ → /joki/ → */joɣi/ → /joi/ → */jiː/ → /iː/

Ultimately a shift from 良い (yoi), classical 良し (yoshi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [iː]

• Audio:

  (file)

• (Tokyo) いい [íꜜì] (Atamadaka – [1])

• Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of いい

Plain	いい	いい	[íꜜì]
Imperfective	よかろ	よかろ	[yòkáróꜜ]
Conjunctive	よくて	よくて	[yóꜜkùtè]
Continuative/Adverbial	よく	よく	[yóꜜkù]
Negative	よくない	よく・ない	[yóꜜkù náꜜì]
Past	よかった	よかった	[yóꜜkàttà]
Negative past	よくなかった	よく・なかった	[yóꜜkù náꜜkàttà]
Conditional	よければ	よければ	[yóꜜkèrèbà]
Provisional	よかったら	よかったら	[yóꜜkàttàrà]
Hypothetical	よけれ	よけれ	[yóꜜkèrè]
Imperative	よかれ	よかれ	[yóꜜkàrè]
Volitional	よかろう	よかろー	[yòkáróꜜò]
Degree	よさ	よさ	[yóꜜsà]
Terminal/Attributive	いい	いい	[íꜜì]
Formal	いいです	いいです	[íꜜì dèsù]
Formal negative	よくないです	よく・ないです	[yóꜜkù náꜜì dèsù]
Formal past	よかったです	よかったです	[yóꜜkàttà dèsù]
Formal negative past	よくなかったです	よく・なかったです	[yóꜜkù náꜜkàttà dèsù]

Adjective

いい • (ii) -i (adverbial よく (yoku))

1. (colloquial, informal) good
2. (colloquial, predicative only) enough, not wanted any more

   酒(さけ)はもういい ― sake wa mō ii ― I have had enough sake.I don’t want any more sake.

3. (ても~, て~) Indicates permission; can, may
4. (with verbs or adjectives in conditional/provisional) Indicates necessity or obligation; should do…, must do…

Usage notes

• Most often written in this form. The kanji spelling 良い is generally reserved for more formal writing.
• This form does not inflect in Standard Japanese — it is only used in the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of いい (ii). All other grammatical forms are based on よい (yoi).
• However, いかった (ikatta) is used dialectally, in Niigata and (often with intervocalic voicing as いがった (igatta)) in Tōhoku.
• In ironic usage meaning “very bad” or “embarrassing”, this form is preferred over よい (yoi).

Inflection

Inflection of いい

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	よかろ	yokaro
Continuative (連用形)	よく	yoku
Terminal (終止形)	いい	ii
Attributive (連体形)	いい	ii
Hypothetical (仮定形)	よけれ	yokere
Imperative (命令形)	よかれ	yokare
Key constructions
Informal negative	よくない	yoku nai
Informal past	よかった	yokatta
Informal negative past	よくなかった	yoku nakatta
Formal	いいです	ii desu
Formal negative	よくないです	yoku nai desu
Formal past	よかったです	yokatta desu
Formal negative past	よくなかったです	yoku nakatta desu
Conjunctive	よくて	yokute
Conditional	よければ	yokereba
Provisional	よかったら	yokattara
Volitional	よかろう	yokarō
Adverbial	よく	yoku
Degree	よさ	yosa

Derived terms

• 頭(あたま)がいい (atama ga ii)

Etymology 2

Alternative spellings
言い 謂い 云い (literary) 曰い 道い

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ii]

Verb

いい • (ii) 

1. stem or continuative form of いう (iu) [godan]

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of いい – see the following entries.

【飯】4 [noun] (archaic) cooked grains, especially cooked rice [proper noun] a surname

【委蛇】 [adjective] winding, meandering [adjective] calm and relaxed Alternative spelling 逶迱

(This term, いい (ii), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as いい, see Category:Japanese kanji read as いい.