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道Nihongo Path

Word 1576 of 2920

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顔が利く

かおがきく

to have influence; to have pull (with people)

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 彼はこの業界で顔が利く。

    かれはこのぎょうかいでかおがきく。

    He has pull in this industry.

  2. 父は町の役所に顔が利く。

    ちちはまちのやくしょにかおがきく。

    My father has connections at the town office.

  3. 顔が利く人に頼めば、すぐに席が取れるだろう。

    かおがきくひとにたのめば、すぐにせきがとれるだろう。

    If we ask someone with pull, we'll probably get a table right away.

Common patterns

業界で顔が利く
to have pull in the industry
～に顔が利く
to have influence with ~
顔が広い
to know a lot of people

Memory tip

Your face 'works' — people recognize it and do you favours. Keep it apart from 顔が広い, which only means knowing many people; 顔が利く adds the power to get things done through them.

Kanji in this word

Quick check

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What does 顔が利く mean?