負担（ふたん、futan）
- burden

The Japanese word 負担, pronounced ふたん (futan), generally translates to "burden," "load," "responsibility," or "obligation" in English. It refers to something that places a strain on someone or something, whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, or otherwise. This 負担 can be a task, a cost, a worry, or any other kind of weight that one has to bear. The concept encompasses both the action of bearing the 負担 and the thing that constitutes the 負担 itself.

⚫︎ 彼は学費の負担が大きいと言った。 Translation: He said the tuition fees were a heavy burden. ⚫︎ このプロジェクトの負担はチームで分担します。 Translation: The burden of this project will be shared by the team. ⚫︎ 経済的な負担を減らすために、節約を始めました。 Translation: I started saving money to reduce the financial burden.

⚫︎ You can use 負担 in various contexts, from describing the difficulty of a task to the weight of responsibility. ⚫︎ It is appropriate in both formal and informal situations, though the specific phrasing might change to reflect the level of politeness. ⚫︎ It's often used with verbs like 感じる (kanjiru, to feel), 減らす (herasu, to reduce), 増やす (fuyasu, to increase), かける (kakeru, to impose), and 負う (ou, to bear).

⚫︎ The word is written in kanji as 負担. ⚫︎ The reading is ふたん (futan). ⚫︎ It is almost always written using the kanji; using hiragana or katakana would be unusual. ⚫︎ There are no variations in the okurigana.

⚫︎ 重荷 (omon): Burden, heavy load. ⚫︎ 義務 (gimu): Duty, obligation. ⚫︎ 責任 (sekinin): Responsibility. ⚫︎ 労力 (rouryoku): Labor, effort. ⚫︎ 苦労 (kurou): Hardship, trouble.

⚫︎ 楽 (raku): Ease, comfort. ⚫︎ 軽減 (keigen): Reduction, alleviation. ⚫︎ 免除 (menjo): Exemption, exoneration. ⚫︎ 恩恵 (onkei): Benefit, favor.

彼は家族の生活費の負担を軽くするために、副業を始めた。 ・Translation: He started a side job to lighten the burden of his family's living expenses. ・Explanation: This sentence demonstrates how 負担 is used to describe the financial strain on a person, and how one might try to mitigate that strain.

この仕事は、精神的な負担が大きい。 ・Translation: This job is mentally demanding. ・Explanation: The sentence illustrates how 負担 can refer to the mental toll of a job or situation.

The kanji 負 (fu) means "to bear," "to owe," or "to be responsible for," and 担 (tan) means "to carry," "to bear," or "to shoulder." Together, 負担 literally means "to bear a load" or "to carry a burden," accurately reflecting its meaning.