Shouganai

What Does Shouganai(しょうがない) Mean (Literally) in Japanese?

The first thing to note about this phrase is that there are actually two really common phrases here. One is “Shouganai,” which tends to be more colloquial, and the other is “Shikata ga nai” (仕方がない=Shouganai), which I’ve heard used a bit more formally. You can make “Shikata ga nai” even more formal by using the formal negative conjugation of “aru” and say “Shikata ga arimasen” (仕方がありません=Shouganai). 

These phrases are pretty much interchangeable at the colloquial level, depending on your preferred speaking style, but you never really make “Shouganai” more formal. It’s one of those things that I can’t explain why, but I’ve never heard anyone do it. 

Translating these directly into English is pretty easy because they mean practically the same thing. “Nai” is, of course, the negative form of “aru,” and means “there isn’t.” “Shikata” (仕方) and “shou” (仕様) have almost the exact same meaning, which you might be able to tell from the fact they share their first kanji. They mean “way” or “method.”

So, if we put this together, we get a direct translation of “There is no way,” or “There is no method.” These are both valid English sentences, despite being direct translations from Japanese, but they don’t quite convey how this phrase is actually used.

What Does Shouganai(しょうがない) Mean (Not Literally)?

Is “Shouganai” “It can’t be helped.”?

The best way I can translate “Shouganai” is “It can’t be helped.” It kind of fits with the English translations if you translate it as “There’s nothing I can do about it.” 

This might be a little silly, but whenever I’m thinking of how to translate “Shouganai,” I always think of the shrug emoticon. You know. This one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It basically gives the idea of “I understand this might not be ideal, but I also can’t do anything about it, so I’m going to move on and do what I can.” It’s actually pretty similar to the French phrase “C’est la vie,” if you’re familiar with that.

This phrase is interesting because we can understand the idea and feeling behind it, but English doesn’t really have a phrase that expresses all of that. 

It also has more uses than you might initially think. I use this phrase almost daily. If you get stuck in traffic and it makes you late, shouganai. If you’re in line at the bakery, and the person before you buys the last cookie even though you wanted it, shouganai. If the wind messes up your hair right when you were trying to take that selfie, shouganai. If you’re talking to someone in Japanese and you make a silly mistake, shouganai.

However, remember that this phrase is mostly used for inconsequential things. Traffic and cookies are pretty minor things, but you wouldn’t use this phrase when your friend told you their dog died.

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