靴は新しい間は固い。

Sentence Discussions Japanese
#1
English Translation

Shoes are stiff when they are new.

FYI: かたい can be spelled as 1) 固い, 2) 硬い, or 3) 堅い. Many of Japanese native speakers don’t fully understand the difference and often misuse among them.

  1. 固い – the antonym is 緩い（ゆるい）= loose

  2. 硬い – the antonym is 軟らかい（やわらかい）= soft

  3. 堅い – the antonym is もろい = fragile/breakable

If the new shoes have a solid sole made of leather, and it can be softened after using for a while, the correct Kanji is 2) 硬い.

If the new shoes are fully made of leather, can be expandable and better fit the shape of your foot, it should be 1) 固い.

I believe 2) 硬い is the correct Kanji. My argument is based on an article written by the professional proofreading team at Mainichi Newspaper.

1 Like
鉄は固い。