Word
前途
Meaning in Englishfuture prospects, outlook, the journey ahead
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
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Word context
What it means
前途 means the future prospects or path that lies ahead for a person, project, or situation. It conveys what may unfold over time, including opportunities, development, and potential challenges.
Main meanings
- Future prospects or outlook for a person, organization, or situation.
- The path forward or trajectory of development in a given endeavor.
- In formal contexts, used to discuss long-term implications, including possibilities and potential difficulties ahead.
How to use it
Used in formal and written Japanese to discuss long-term implications, plans, or career trajectories. It appears in speeches, essays, business reports, and journalism. It is not common in casual everyday speech. Typical contexts include discussions of a person's future prospects, a project's outlook, or societal trends; it often collocates with adjectives describing positive or negative outcomes.
Variants and close terms
- 将来 (shourai) — future, prospects
- 未来 (mirai) — future
- 展望 (tenbou) — outlook, prospects
Composition
- 前 front, ahead; signals the part that lies before you in space or time.
- 途 road, path; used here to express a course or direction.
- Together they form the metaphor of the road ahead, i.e., the future prospects that lie before someone.
Word class
noun (名詞)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N3
以前
izen
before, previously, in the past
N3
お前
omae
you, informal or rude depending on context
N3
前者
zensha
the former, the first one
N3
前進
zenshin
advance, progress, moving forward
N3
途端
totan
just (now, at the moment, etc.)
N3
前もって
maemotte
in advance, beforehand, previously
N4
途中
tochuu
on the way, midway
N5
～前
～zen
in front of ~
N5
前
mae
front / before
Kanji