直感・直観|ちょっかんchokkan[0]heiban (flat)
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Which spelling to use
直感直感 is the most common written form of this word and the one beginners should normally choose when writing about intuition, instinct, or a hunch.
直観直観 is a less common written form of the same word; recognize it when encountered, but choose 直感 for your own writing as a beginner.
Definitions
- noun, suru verb, transitive verbintuition; instinct; hunch
Conjugation
| Dictionary form | 直感する（ちょっかんする） |
|---|---|
| Polite (masu) | 直感します（ちょっかんします） |
| Negative (nai) | 直感しない（ちょっかんしない） |
| polite (masen) | 直感しません（ちょっかんしません） |
| classical zu / nu | 直感せず・直感せぬ（ちょっかんせず・ちょっかんせぬ） |
| Past (ta) | 直感した（ちょっかんした） |
| polite (mashita) | 直感しました（ちょっかんしました） |
| Past negative (nakatta) | 直感しなかった（ちょっかんしなかった） |
| polite (masen deshita) | 直感しませんでした（ちょっかんしませんでした） |
| Te form | 直感して（ちょっかんして） |
| Potential | 直感できる（ちょっかんできる） |
| Passive | 直感される（ちょっかんされる） |
| Causative | 直感させる（ちょっかんさせる） |
| Causative passive | 直感させられる（ちょっかんさせられる） |
| Conditional (ba) | 直感すれば（ちょっかんすれば） |
| tara | 直感したら（ちょっかんしたら） |
| Volitional | 直感しよう（ちょっかんしよう） |
| polite (mashou) | 直感しましょう（ちょっかんしましょう） |
| Imperative | 直感しろ（ちょっかんしろ） |
Common forms generated by rule; see the senses for honorific or irregular usage.
Synonyms & antonyms
- Synonym勘かんNeutralNeutral, colloquial word for intuition or a sixth sense, often a sharpness honed by experience, as in 「勘が鋭い」. In everyday speech it replaces 「直感」.
- Synonym直覚ちょっかくWrittenWritten/formal prose term for knowing something directly by feeling; a philosophical word rarely heard in modern usage. Prefer 「直感」 in ordinary contexts.
- Synonym第六感だいろっかんNeutralNeutral term for intuition working beyond the five senses; carries a slightly mysterious nuance that 「直感」 lacks.
- Related予感よかんNeutralNeutral word for a premonition, a feeling about what the future holds, as in 「嫌な予感」; it leans toward what is coming, while 「直感」 names the instant grasp by feeling itself.
- Related洞察力どうさつりょくWrittenWritten word for the ability to observe deeply and see through to the essence, as in 「鋭い洞察力」; 「直感」 is an instantaneous, feeling-based grasp.
- Related予覚よかくWrittenWritten term for sensing something in advance; rare in modern Japanese. For a feeling about the future, 「予感」 is the everyday choice.
- Antonym理性りせいNeutralNeutral antonym: the capacity to reason things through step by step, set against 「直感」's instant, feeling-based judgments.
- Antonym論理ろんりWrittenWritten/formal word for logic and reasoned argument; it stands opposite 「直感」, which works without reasoning.
- Antonym分析ぶんせきNeutralNeutral antonym: breaking a thing down into its elements to clarify its nature and structure — the step-by-step process 「直感」 skips.
Use 「直感」 for grasping something instantly by feeling, without reasoning, as in 「直感で選ぶ」 or 「直感が働く」. In casual speech 「勘」 is the everyday word, and for a feeling about the future say 「予感」. 「第六感」 adds a mysterious nuance. 「直覚」, 「予覚」 and 「洞察力」 are written words, the first two rare today. The opposites of 「直感」 are 「理性」, 「分析」 and, in formal prose, 「論理」.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese definitions
Kanji in this word
English equivalents
See also
