ぽい

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
ポイ

Unknown. May be onomatopoeia.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぽい [póꜜì] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [po̞i]

Adverb

ぽい • (poi) 

1. lightly, carelessly, casually (also indicating something being thrown)

   屑(くず)箱(ばこ)へぽいと投(な)げた。

   Kuzubako e poi to nageta.

   He tossed it carelessly into the wastebasket.

2. suddenly (also indicating movement away)
   • 1813, 浮世床 (Ukiyodoko), Shikitei Sanba:

     うぬひとり口(ぐち)をきいてぽいと帰(かえ)ったぜ

     Unu hitoriguchi o kiite poi to kaetta ze

     When he heard your muttering he -- poof -- went back home.

Usage notes

Used with the particle と (to).

Noun

ぽい • (poi) 

1. the act of lightly throwing something: tossing, chucking, especially carelessly: littering

   タバコのぽいは止(や)めましょう。

   Tabako no poi wa yamemashō.

   Let's stop tossing cigarette butts. → Please don't litter.

Usage notes

Occasionally used on its own. More often used in compounds or as an adverb.

Derived terms

• ぽい捨(す)て (poi-sute): littering
• っぽい (ppoi)

Verb

ぽいする • (poi suru) transitive suru (stem ぽいし (poisuru shi), past ぽいした (poisuru shita))

1. to throw away

Conjugation

Conjugation of "ぽいする" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	ぽいし	poi shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	ぽいし	poi shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	ぽいする	poi suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	ぽいする	poi suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	ぽいすれ	poi sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	ぽいせよ¹ ぽいしろ²	poi seyo¹ poi shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	ぽいされる	poi sareru
Causative	ぽいさせる ぽいさす	poi saseru poi sasu
Potential	ぽいできる	poi dekiru
Volitional	ぽいしよう	poi shiyō
Negative	ぽいしない	poi shinai
Negative continuative	ぽいせず	poi sezu
Formal	ぽいします	poi shimasu
Perfective	ぽいした	poi shita
Conjunctive	ぽいして	poi shite
Hypothetical conditional	ぽいすれば	poi sureba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative

Synonyms

• 捨(す)てる (suteru), 棄(す)てる (suteru)

Etymology 2

Degrammaticalization of suffix っぽい (-ppoi, “-ish, -like”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [po̞i]

Adjective

ぽい • (poi) -i (adverbial ぽく (poku))

1. (informal) resembling the real thing

   ちょっとぽい

   chotto poi

   kind of like it

   なんかぽくない？

   Nanka pokunai?

   It's similar, no?

Inflection

Inflection of ぽい

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	ぽかろ	pokaro
Continuative (連用形)	ぽく	poku
Terminal (終止形)	ぽい	poi
Attributive (連体形)	ぽい	poi
Hypothetical (仮定形)	ぽけれ	pokere
Imperative (命令形)	ぽかれ	pokare
Key constructions
Informal negative	ぽくない	poku nai
Informal past	ぽかった	pokatta
Informal negative past	ぽくなかった	poku nakatta
Formal	ぽいです	poi desu
Formal negative	ぽくないです	poku nai desu
Formal past	ぽかったです	pokatta desu
Formal negative past	ぽくなかったです	poku nakatta desu
Conjunctive	ぽくて	pokute
Conditional	ぽければ	pokereba
Provisional	ぽかったら	pokattara
Volitional	ぽかろう	pokarō
Adverbial	ぽく	poku
Degree	ぽさ	posa

Derived terms

• ぽさ (posa)