知り合い（しりあい、shiriai）
- acquaintance

The Japanese word 知り合い, pronounced しりあい (shiriai), means "acquaintance," "friend," or "someone you know." It refers to a person you have some degree of familiarity with, but not necessarily a close or intimate relationship. The level of acquaintance can vary. 知り合い can range from someone you occasionally greet to someone you have a casual friendship with. It's a noun.

⚫︎彼は私の知り合いです。 Translation: He is an acquaintance of mine. ⚫︎パーティーで何人かの知り合いに会った。 Translation: I met several acquaintances at the party. ⚫︎田中さんは私の学校の知り合いです。 Translation: Mr. Tanaka is an acquaintance from my school.

⚫︎You use 知り合い to describe a person you know, but are not necessarily close to. ⚫︎It's suitable for various social contexts, from introductions to casual conversations. ⚫︎The context determines the exact nuance; a 知り合い might be someone you see regularly or someone you only know by sight. ⚫︎It is often used when you want to clarify that the relationship is not as close as a friend, family member, or colleague.

⚫︎The word is typically written in hiragana as しりあい. ⚫︎The kanji form is 知り合い. ⚫︎There is no variation in okurigana (the suffix hiragana).

⚫︎知人 (chijin) - acquaintance ⚫︎友人 (yuujin) - friend (more intimate than 知り合い) ⚫︎仲間 (nakama) - companion, colleague, friend ⚫︎顔見知り (kaomishiri) - someone you know by sight

⚫︎知らない人 (shiranai hito) - stranger, someone you don't know ⚫︎他人 (tanin) - other people, stranger

私は彼の知り合いの一人にすぎません。 ・Translation: I'm just one of his acquaintances. ・Explanation: This sentence emphasizes that the speaker's relationship with "him" is not a close one.

このイベントで新しい知り合いができました。 ・Translation: I made new acquaintances at this event. ・Explanation: This indicates that the speaker met and became acquainted with new people during the event.

The word 知り合い is a compound word. It is derived from the verb 知る (shiru), meaning "to know," and the suffix 合い (ai), which indicates "mutual" or "association." Therefore, 知り合い literally means "a mutual knowing" or "an association of knowing."