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6 仕方がない Can't Be Helped

Alternative Meanings

It's No Use, There's No Other Way

Part of Speech

Expression

Reading

しかたがない

  • Kyoko(Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi(Tokyo accent, male)

Context Sentences

かれがおこるのは、仕方がないよ。

If he’s angry, it can’t be helped.

泣いてばかりいても仕方がないよ。

There's no use in just crying.

お前は本当に仕方がないやつだ!

You’re really hopeless!

Meaning Explanation

The kanji part of this word is like saying "the doing way" ... aka the way you do something. So, when you don't have a way to do something, there's nothing you can do. Thus is born the popular Japanese phrase: 仕方がない, which means can't be helped, it's no use, or there's no other way. This is a very good expression to know if you're in Japan.

Reading Explanation

The readings for the kanji portion are in line with the readings you learned with the individual kanji, so as long as you know those you should be able to read this word as well.

Utilized Kanji

  • 仕
    • し
    • Doing
  • 方
    • ほう
    • Direction
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