A Complete Guide to Figure Out 大切 and 大事
I’ve prepared what the difference between 大切 and 大事 is for you studying Japanese quite hard. After reading this, you would be able to figure it out and use these words from today. Let me introduce how you correctly figure 大切 and 大事 out today!
大切 (taisetsu)
Cherish / Take good care of
“大切にする” means “Cherish / Take good care of” and which has been using as the meaning of necessity from the bottom your heart, unlike 大事 which I wrote down below. The words of “大切な___(Cherished ___)” or “___大切にする(I cherish ___)” are “大切な人(Loved ones)”, “子供を大切に育てている(I cherish my children.)”, “両親を大切にしています(I take good care of my parents.)”, etc. So, normally native Japanese speakers don’t say “大切な用事” instead of “大事な用事” which sounds better.

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大事
Important / Take good care of
“大事” means “Important” and which has been using as the meaning of calculating profit and loss, unlike 大切. So the nuance of “大切な人(Loved ones)” and “大事な人(important person)” are a little bit different from each other. What about “大切なもの” and “大事もの”? For instance, “大切なもの” is one of the presents from your grandma, grandpa passed away and which you won’t be able to throw away because you love them. Whereas “大事もの” is health, time, money, job, etc. Lastly, “両親からの大切な手紙“(Cherished Letters from my parents) and “学校/会社からの大事な手紙“(Important letters from my school/office).




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