# Difference between 大切 and 大事

**URL:** <https://community.wanikani.com/t/difference-between-%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%87-and-%E5%A4%A7%E4%BA%8B/34254>\
**Category:** Questions\
**Created:** [December 21, 2018, 6:13am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/difference-between-%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%87-and-%E5%A4%A7%E4%BA%8B/34254 "2018-12-21T06:13:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cjjohnson172k](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/cjjohnson172k/32/191408_2.png) [@cjjohnson172k](https://community.wanikani.com/u/cjjohnson172k)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 6:13am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/difference-between-%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%87-and-%E5%A4%A7%E4%BA%8B/34254/1 "2018-12-21T06:13:44Z")

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Both mean important according to WaniKani, but is there any difference between the two?

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**Author:** ![Leebo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/leebo/32/439476_2.png) [@Leebo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Leebo)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/difference-between-%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%87-and-%E5%A4%A7%E4%BA%8B/34254/2 "2018-12-21T06:18:13Z")

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This thesaurus entry says they are almost the same (ほぼ同意), but then in the comparison table it does have one difference, where in the sentence 彼の行動には\_\_な意味がある, 大事 is regarded as acceptable and 大切 is regarded as questionable. It doesn’t have any elaboration on why.

The entry may give you a good feel for these two in relation to other “important” words though, such as 重要 and some less common ones also covered.

> **[大事（だいじ）の類語・言い換え - 類語辞書 - goo辞書](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/thsrs/15612/meaning/m0u/%E5%A4%A7%E4%BA%8B/)**
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> 大事（だいじ）の類語・言い換え。\[共通する意味\] ★価値があり、重んじなければならないこと。\[英\] importance\[使い方\]〔重要〕(名・形動)▽事件の鍵(かぎ)になる重要な証言▽重要な点を聞き落とす▽重要参考人〔大事〕(形動)▽大事な話をメモする▽毎日勉強することが大事だ〔大切〕(形動)▽友人に借りた大切な本▽道路を横断するときには注意が大切だ〔肝要〕(名・形動)▽忍耐が肝要だ▽肝要な点を述べる〔肝心〕(名・形動)▽準備... -...

Oh, and I guess one other major difference is that 大事 has a second set of meanings as a noun, rather than a な adjective. In that case, it means “a serious matter” or “a great undertaking” and it has a whole separate thesaurus entry. In that meaning it also has 2 readings, だいじ and おおごと.

> **[大事（だいじ）の類語・言い換え - 類語辞書 - goo辞書](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/thsrs/9129/meaning/m0u/)**
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> 大事（だいじ）の類語・言い換え。\[共通する意味\] ★重大な出来事。\[英\] a matter of grave concern\[使い方\]〔大事〕(だいじ)▽大事の前の小事▽国家の大事▽大事を取る〔大事〕(おおごと)▽これは大ごとになるぞ▽大ごとにならねばよいが…〔一大事〕▽一大事が出来(しゅったい)する\[使い分け\]【１】「大事(だいじ)」は、やや改まった言い方であるのに対して、「大事(おおごと)」は、くだけた言い方。【２】「一大事... -...

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**Author:** ![cjjohnson172k](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/cjjohnson172k/32/191408_2.png) [@cjjohnson172k](https://community.wanikani.com/u/cjjohnson172k)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 6:31am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/difference-between-%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%87-and-%E5%A4%A7%E4%BA%8B/34254/3 "2018-12-21T06:31:51Z")

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Thank you for the quick reply! 😉

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/2/a/62a8b0f4c59ff2c5b6651ffcf43531480b3e5297.png) [@system](https://community.wanikani.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 6:42am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/difference-between-%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%87-and-%E5%A4%A7%E4%BA%8B/34254/4 "2019-12-21T06:42:47Z")

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