苦しい vs 辛い
JLPT N5 vocabulary · what is the difference?
苦しい is physical distress inside the body — you cannot breathe, your chest hurts. 辛い (read つらい) is emotional: something is hard to bear. Note that the same kanji 辛い is also read からい meaning "spicy", so the reading tells you which word it is.
When to use each
苦しい
くるしい
Use 苦しい when the body is in distress: breathing, chest, stomach. It also extends to a situation that squeezes you, especially money — 生活が苦しい means you can barely make ends meet.
息が苦しいです。
いきがくるしいです。
I can hardly breathe.
生活が苦しいです。
せいかつがくるしいです。
We are struggling to make ends meet.
辛い
からい
Read つらい, 辛い describes something emotionally hard to endure — a painful goodbye, a gruelling job, a memory. Read からい, the very same kanji means spicy, so learners often see 辛い and say the wrong word.
友だちと別れるのは辛いです。
ともだちとわかれるのはつらいです。
Parting from a friend is hard.
このカレーは辛いです。
このカレーはからいです。
This curry is spicy.
Sentences where only one works
走りすぎて息が苦しいです。
はしりすぎていきがくるしいです。
I ran too much and can hardly breathe.
Breathing is a body problem, so 苦しい. つらい here would sound like the running upset you emotionally.
毎日残業で辛いです。
まいにちざんぎょうでつらいです。
Overtime every day is rough on me.
Nothing hurts physically; it wears you down mentally, so つらい.
この料理は辛いですね。
このりょうりはからいですね。
This dish is spicy, isn't it.
About food, 辛い is read からい and means spicy — 苦しい can never describe a taste.
胸が苦しくて病院へ行きました。
むねがくるしくてびょういんへいきました。
My chest felt tight so I went to the hospital.
A physical symptom you can report to a doctor takes 苦しい.
Common mistakes
このカレーはつらいです。
このカレーはからいです。
The kanji is the same but food takes the からい reading. つらい about curry sounds like eating it is an emotional ordeal.
友だちと別れるのは苦しいです。
友だちと別れるのは辛いです。
苦しい points at the body. For heartache, Japanese uses つらい.
お金がなくて辛い生活です。
お金がなくて苦しい生活です。
For a financially tight life the usual phrase is 生活が苦しい. つらい is not wrong about your feelings, but 苦しい is the word used for the situation itself.
Frequently asked questions
Is 辛い spicy or hard? How do I know?
By the reading, and by what it describes. Food or taste means からい (spicy); a person, a job or a situation means つらい (hard to bear). Many writers put つらい in hiragana precisely to avoid the ambiguity.
Can 苦しい ever describe feelings?
Yes, in a heavy way — 胸が苦しい can describe an aching heart, and 苦しい立場 is a tight spot. But for ordinary "this is hard on me", つらい is the everyday word.
Which one do I say when I'm sick?
苦しい. 息が苦しい, お腹が苦しい and 胸が苦しい are all symptoms. つらい is fine too if you mean the illness is wearing you down overall.