What a waste.：“mottai nai” Japanese Phrase #324
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もったいない。(mottai nai)
What a waste. / 真可惜。 / 아깝다 / Lãng phí.
When you want to describe “an unnecessary or wrong use of money, substances, time, energy, abilities, etc.”, you would be able to use “もったいない。(mottai nai)” which means “What a waste.”. Everybody could use this in daily conversations as casual and “もったいないです。(mottai nai desu)” is used as polite and formal.
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Sample 1
tatsuyaあれ？目覚まし時計は？ (Oh, where is my alarm clock?) (咦？你的闹钟呢？) (어? 알람 시계는?) (Ủa? Còn đồng hồ báo thức đâu rồi?) (are? mezamashi dokei wa?)
yuka動いてなかったから、捨てたよ。 (I threw it away cuz it didn’t work.) (闹钟不走了。我就把它扔掉了。) (멈춰 버려서 버렸어.) (Vì nó không chạy nữa nên tôi vứt nó đi rồi.) (ugoi te nakatta kara, suteta yo.)
tatsuyaもったいない。電池変えたら動くよ。 (What a waste. If changing the battery, it’ll work.) (真可惜，只要换一下电池它应该就能继续走的。) (아깝다. 건전지 바꾸면 움직일텐데.) (Lãng phí quá. Thay pin thì nó sẽ chạy mà.) (mottai nai. denchi kaetara ugoku yo.)
Sample 2
yukaあれ？パソコン捨てたんですか？ (Oh, did you throw the computer away?) (咦？你把电脑扔掉了吗？) (어? 컴퓨터 버리셨어요?) (Ủa? Bạn đã vứt máy tính rồi hả?) (are? pasokon suteta n desu ka?)
tatsuyaええ、捨てましたよ。 (Yes, I did.) (是的，我扔掉了。) (네, 버렸어요.) (Vâng, tôi đã vứt nó đi rồi.) (ee, sute mashita yo.)
yukaもったいないですよ。まだ使えましたよ。 (What a waste. It’s still usable.) (真可惜。它应该还能用吧。) (아깝네요. 아직 쓸 수 있었을텐데요) (Lãng phí quá vậy. Vẫn còn sử dụng được mà.) (mottai nai desu yo. mada tsukae mashita yo.)
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