What is the Difference between the Meaning of あぶない vs やばい in Japanese?
What is the difference between あぶない and やばい? Google Translate will tell you both mean dangerous. These two words do overlap but do not mean the same thing. When you translate Japanese to English you often don’t get the full picture. So, keep reading to find out the meaning of the words.
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The Meaning of あぶない
Dangerous is the English word for あぶない. However, like all words, あぶない can be used in certain situations where dangerous would not be used. For instance, in situations where information is unreliable or the outlook is untrustworthy.
その話は危ないなあ
そのはなしはあぶないなあ
you can’t trust what you were told
明日の天気は危ないようだ
あしたのてんきはあぶないようだ
tomorrows weather does not look good
These are not exact translations but you get the idea. In either situation though, there is some possibility of some harm happening. Physical or otherwise.
The Meaning of やばい
やばい is slang or collaquial language in Japanese. As a result, やばい has a much wider range of situations where it can be used.
If we look at the definition of やばい, it states it can be used for dangerous or just inconvenient situations. You can also say やばい to express extreme interest or when something is funny, and so on. I have more details on how to use やばい.
What is the Difference between あぶない and やばい
The word あぶない means dangerous and is used most of the time like dangerous is used in English. In contrast, やばい is a much looser slang word. It’s meaning is much more dependent on the specific circumstance you use it.
