古い

What it means

古い (furui) means old; it describes something that has existed for a long time or is no longer new, signaling age, wear, or obsolescence, and it functions as an i-adjective that can modify a noun or serve as a predicate in sentences.

Main meanings

• describes the age or condition of non-living things, places, and concepts (e.g., objects or ideas that are not new)
• can imply obsolescence or being out of date, with a neutral to negative nuance depending on context
• usually contrasted with 新しい (atarashii) to express old vs new
• not commonly used for describing people; use 年を取った (toshi o totta) or 老いた (oita) for people

How to use it

Used in casual and formal speech to describe the age or condition of things; before nouns to attribute age; as predicate with です; conjugates to 古くない in negation and to 古かった in the past; the te-form 古くて links to subsequent clauses, and common phrases include 古い本 and 古い建物.