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I want to say, "I miss my old phone". How can I express it in Japanese? According to the dictionary '恋しい' is used. But I'ven't found examples where '恋しい' is used in the case of missing a non-living matter. I'm not sure if I can use 恋しい or not for non-living matters like '前の携帯が恋しい' for 'I miss my old phone.'

bittertea
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1 Answers1

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This type of "miss" is tricky to translate. Options include:

  • (前の携帯が)なくてつらい, なくて大変だ: if you are actually having trouble because you don't have it
  • (前の携帯が)懐かしい: if you are just feeling nostalgic about it
  • (前の携帯が)あればいいのに
  • (前の携帯が)(今)欲しい
  • (前の携帯は)良かったな

If you reeeally loved your old phone, 恋しい is not a wrong choice, although it usually sounds exaggerated.

On a side note, when the object is a human, 恋しい is not always a safe choice because it can imply romantic love, as the kanji suggests. If you just want to say "I miss you" to your friend, consider using いなくて寂しい, 寂しくなるよ, 会いたいな or something.

naruto
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  • Just a thought, but one way of expressing this Ive come across is いいなあ

    During a conversation about snow, for instance. Someone might say they had a lot of snow in their hometown and to imply you miss snow you might say 雪いいなあ… Feel free to correct me if Im wrong.

     – Lucas Jul 25 '21 at 23:27
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    @Lucas Can you say "I miss it" for something you haven't owned? For example, assuming I've never been an iPhone user, can I say "I miss an iPhone"? – naruto Jul 26 '21 at 05:17
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    No, you can only miss things youve had. Also, if you did have an iPhone you would probably say "I miss having an iPhone" – Lucas Jul 26 '21 at 06:26
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    @Lucas Then I think いいなあ never means "I miss ～". – naruto Jul 26 '21 at 09:20
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    @naruto I don't know how precise your question was, but if it was very precise, then I disagree with Lucas: you can say "I miss it" for many things that you have never owned. You can miss feelings (I miss being carefree as a child), you can miss cities (I miss Portland), you can miss periodic events (I miss games night), you can miss things other people owned but that you interacted with (I miss your cat, I miss Joe's Xbox), and many more. – Daniel Wagner Jul 26 '21 at 18:51
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    As a follow up question, what if the object is a place and not a thing? Eg "I miss Japan" (which is true) – tcallred Jul 26 '21 at 19:47
  • Excuse me for just spitballing but I think "I miss Japan" might come across as something like あ、日本楽しかったなぁ or あ、日本懐かしいなぁ – Lucas Jul 26 '21 at 23:47
  • @DanielWagner Sure, but all of them refer to one's good experience/memory in the past, right? いいなあ is never used referring to one's past, and that's a critical difference between いいなあ and "I miss X". (Well, よかったなあ may be used to translate "I miss Joe's Xbox", "I miss Japan", "I miss snow", and so on.) – naruto Jul 27 '21 at 00:55