"if" meaning in Japanese

See if in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: [iɸɯ̟] Forms: if [canonical] (ruby: if(イフ)), ifu [alternative], IF [alternative, kanji]
Etymology: From English if (as in what if). Etymology templates: {{bor|ja|en|if|pos=as in <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">what if</i>}} English if (as in what if) Head templates: {{ja-noun|イフ}} if(イフ) • (ifu)
  1. "what-if" alternative history (real-life) / events (fictional) Synonyms: もし, もしも, アナザー (anazā) (english: another) [literally]

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_links": [
    [
      "if",
      "if#English"
    ],
    [
      "what if",
      "what if#English"
    ]
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ja",
        "2": "en",
        "3": "if",
        "pos": "as in <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">what if</i>"
      },
      "expansion": "English if (as in what if)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From English if (as in what if).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "if",
      "ruby": [
        [
          "if",
          "イフ"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ifu",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "IF",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "kanji"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "イフ"
      },
      "expansion": "if(イフ) • (ifu)",
      "name": "ja-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Japanese",
  "lang_code": "ja",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Japanese entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Japanese links with redundant alt parameters",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Japanese links with redundant wikilinks",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Japanese terms with Atamadaka pitch accent (Tōkyō)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Japanese terms with redundant sortkeys",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 9 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_roman_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              3
            ]
          ],
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              2
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              2,
              9
            ]
          ],
          "english": "a what-if scenario / storyline",
          "roman": "ifu rūto",
          "ruby": [
            [
              "IF",
              "イフ"
            ]
          ],
          "text": "IFルート",
          "translation": "a what-if scenario / storyline",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_roman_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              3
            ]
          ],
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              2
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              2,
              9
            ]
          ],
          "english": "a what-if story",
          "roman": "ifu sutōrī",
          "ruby": [
            [
              "IF",
              "イフ"
            ]
          ],
          "text": "IFストーリー",
          "translation": "a what-if story",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_roman_offsets": [
            [
              11,
              14
            ]
          ],
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              3,
              5
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              13,
              20
            ]
          ],
          "english": "to imagine a what-if in a history",
          "roman": "rekishi no ifu o sōzō suru",
          "ruby": [
            [
              "歴",
              "れき"
            ],
            [
              "史",
              "し"
            ],
            [
              "if",
              "イフ"
            ],
            [
              "想",
              "そう"
            ],
            [
              "像",
              "ぞう"
            ]
          ],
          "text": "歴史のifを想像する",
          "translation": "to imagine a what-if in a history",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "\"what-if\" alternative history (real-life) / events (fictional)"
      ],
      "id": "en-if-ja-noun-DLuRjTV1",
      "links": [
        [
          "what-if",
          "what-if"
        ],
        [
          "alternative",
          "alternative"
        ],
        [
          "history",
          "history"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "もし"
        },
        {
          "word": "もしも"
        },
        {
          "english": "another",
          "roman": "anazā",
          "tags": [
            "literally"
          ],
          "translation": "another",
          "word": "アナザー"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "[iɸɯ̟]"
    },
    {
      "other": "イフ"
    }
  ],
  "word": "if"
}
{
  "etymology_links": [
    [
      "if",
      "if#English"
    ],
    [
      "what if",
      "what if#English"
    ]
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ja",
        "2": "en",
        "3": "if",
        "pos": "as in <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">what if</i>"
      },
      "expansion": "English if (as in what if)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From English if (as in what if).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "if",
      "ruby": [
        [
          "if",
          "イフ"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ifu",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "IF",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "kanji"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "イフ"
      },
      "expansion": "if(イフ) • (ifu)",
      "name": "ja-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Japanese",
  "lang_code": "ja",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Japanese entries with incorrect language header",
        "Japanese lemmas",
        "Japanese links with redundant alt parameters",
        "Japanese links with redundant wikilinks",
        "Japanese nouns",
        "Japanese terms borrowed from English",
        "Japanese terms derived from English",
        "Japanese terms with Atamadaka pitch accent (Tōkyō)",
        "Japanese terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "Japanese terms with IPA pronunciation with pitch accent",
        "Japanese terms with redundant sortkeys",
        "Japanese terms with usage examples",
        "Pages with 9 entries",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_roman_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              3
            ]
          ],
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              2
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              2,
              9
            ]
          ],
          "english": "a what-if scenario / storyline",
          "roman": "ifu rūto",
          "ruby": [
            [
              "IF",
              "イフ"
            ]
          ],
          "text": "IFルート",
          "translation": "a what-if scenario / storyline",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_roman_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              3
            ]
          ],
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              2
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              2,
              9
            ]
          ],
          "english": "a what-if story",
          "roman": "ifu sutōrī",
          "ruby": [
            [
              "IF",
              "イフ"
            ]
          ],
          "text": "IFストーリー",
          "translation": "a what-if story",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_roman_offsets": [
            [
              11,
              14
            ]
          ],
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              3,
              5
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              13,
              20
            ]
          ],
          "english": "to imagine a what-if in a history",
          "roman": "rekishi no ifu o sōzō suru",
          "ruby": [
            [
              "歴",
              "れき"
            ],
            [
              "史",
              "し"
            ],
            [
              "if",
              "イフ"
            ],
            [
              "想",
              "そう"
            ],
            [
              "像",
              "ぞう"
            ]
          ],
          "text": "歴史のifを想像する",
          "translation": "to imagine a what-if in a history",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "\"what-if\" alternative history (real-life) / events (fictional)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "what-if",
          "what-if"
        ],
        [
          "alternative",
          "alternative"
        ],
        [
          "history",
          "history"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "もし"
        },
        {
          "word": "もしも"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "[iɸɯ̟]"
    },
    {
      "other": "イフ"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "english": "another",
      "roman": "anazā",
      "tags": [
        "literally"
      ],
      "translation": "another",
      "word": "アナザー"
    }
  ],
  "word": "if"
}

Download raw JSONL data for if meaning in Japanese (2.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Japanese dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-10-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (1a05e46 and e3d6d4e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.