遠い（とおい、tooi）
- far

The Japanese word 遠い, read as とおい, means "far," "distant," or "a long way away." It describes the distance between two points, or something that is not close by. It can refer to physical distance, but it can also be used metaphorically to describe something not easily attainable. The word is an i-adjective.

⚫︎家は駅から遠いです。 Translation: My house is far from the station. ⚫︎あの店は遠いから、車で行きましょう。 Translation: That shop is far, so let's go by car. ⚫︎彼の夢はまだまだ遠い。 Translation: His dream is still far off. (Metaphorical use, meaning not easily achievable)

⚫︎You use 遠い to describe something's distance from a reference point. ⚫︎It's common to use 遠い with location words like 家 (ie), 学校 (gakko - school), 駅 (eki - station), or with time-related words when something is a long time away. ⚫︎When speaking, you typically use the polite form 遠いです (tooī desu) to show politeness. The plain form 遠い is for more casual situations or when you're speaking to those close to you. ⚫︎You can modify 遠い using adverbs like とても (totemo - very) or 少し (sukoshi - a little) to change the degree of distance. For instance, とても遠い means "very far."

⚫︎The word is primarily written in kanji as 遠い. ⚫︎The hiragana reading is とおい. ⚫︎The okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is always い. ⚫︎You can also find the noun form, which is 遠さ (toosa - distance).

⚫︎距離がある (kyori ga aru) - "to have distance" ⚫︎離れている (hanarete iru) - "to be separated" or "to be far apart."

⚫︎近い (chikai) - "near," "close"

私の実家は東京から遠いです。 ・Translation: My hometown is far from Tokyo. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the distance between the speaker's hometown and Tokyo.

将来の夢を叶えるまで、まだ遠い。 ・Translation: It's still a long way until I realize my dream for the future. ・Explanation: This is a metaphorical use of 遠い, describing the time needed to achieve a goal.

The kanji 遠 is a combination of two radicals: 辶 (shinnyou) representing movement or road and 袁 (en) which carries phonetic and semantic elements. The kanji originally depicted someone moving along a road, indicating a distance. The meaning evolved to encompass the concept of "far" or "distant."