高価な（こうかな、koukana）
- expensive

The Japanese word 高価な (こうかな) means "expensive," "costly," or "high-priced." It describes something that has a significant price or is not cheap. 高価な is an adjective that modifies a noun.

⚫︎ 高価な車 Translation: An expensive car. ⚫︎ 高価な宝石 Translation: Expensive jewelry. ⚫︎ 高価なワイン Translation: Expensive wine.

You use 高価な to describe items or services that are of high monetary value. You can use it in various situations, such as: ⚫︎ Describing the price of goods. ⚫︎ Talking about luxury items. ⚫︎ Comparing prices. ⚫︎ When discussing the cost of services. It's important to note the context. What is considered 高価な can vary depending on the item and the person's financial situation.

⚫︎ Kanji: 高価な ⚫︎ Hiragana: こうかな ⚫︎ This word is typically written with kanji 高 (meaning "high" or "tall"), 価 (meaning "price" or "value"), and な which functions as an adjectival suffix. ⚫︎ The okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is な. There are no variations in how it is written.

⚫︎ 高い (たかい) - "High" or "expensive". This is a more general term than 高価な. ⚫︎ 値段が高い (ねだんがたかい) - "The price is high." ⚫︎ 高級な (こうきゅうな) - "High-class" or "luxurious." This implies higher quality as well as high price.

⚫︎ 安い (やすい) - "Cheap" or "inexpensive." ⚫︎ 低価格の (ていかかくの) - "Low-priced."

このレストランの料理は高価なけれど、とても美味しいです。 ・Translation: The food at this restaurant is expensive, but it's very delicious. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 高価な to describe the price of the food while also acknowledging its quality.

彼女は高価なバッグを買うために、一生懸命働いています。 ・Translation: She is working hard to buy an expensive bag. ・Explanation: This sentence demonstrates the desire to purchase a 高価な item and the effort involved.

The word 高価な comes from the combination of two kanji: 高 (こう), meaning "high" or "tall," and 価 (か), meaning "price" or "value." The な is a suffix that makes the word an adjective. Therefore, the word literally means "high price-ed" or "highly priced".