いい

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ii"

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
良い 善い 好い

⟨yo₂si⟩ → */jəsi/ → /joɕi/ → /joki/ → */joɣi/ → /joi/ → */jiː/ → /iː/

Ultimately a shift from 良い (yoi), classical 良し (yoshi).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いい [íꜜì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [iː]

• Audio:

  (file)

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形)	よく	よく	[yóꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形)	いい	いい	[íꜜì]
Attributive (連体形)	いい	いい	[íꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative	よくない	よくない	[yóꜜkùnàì]
Informal past	よかった	よかった	[yóꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past	よくなかった	よくなかった	[yóꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal	いいです	いいです	[íꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive	よくて	よくて	[yóꜜkùtè]
Conditional	よければ	よければ	[yóꜜkèrèbà]

• Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of 「いい」

Adjective

いい • (ii) -i (adverbial よく (yoku))

1. (colloquial, informal) good
2. (colloquial, predicative only) enough, not wanted any more

   酒(さけ)はもういい ― sake wa mō ii ― I have had enough wine.I don’t want any more wine.

3. (ても~, て~) Indicates permission; can, may

Usage notes

• Most often written in this form. The kanji spelling 良い is generally reserved for more formal writing.
• This form does not inflect — it is only used in the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of ii. All other grammatical forms are based on 良い (yoi). Compare the 連用形 (ren’yōkei, “continuative or adverbial form”) yoku or the 過去形 (kakokei, “past tense”) yokatta; there is no *iku or *ikatta form.
• In ironic usages denoting “very bad” or “embarrassing”, this form is preferred to the yoi form.

Inflection

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	よかろ	yokaro
Continuative (連用形)	よく	yoku
Terminal (終止形)	いい	ii
Attributive (連体形)	いい	ii
Hypothetical (仮定形)	よけれ	yokere
Imperative (命令形)	よかれ	yokare
Key constructions
Informal negative	よくない	yoku nai
Informal past	よかった	yokatta
Informal negative past	よくなかった	yoku nakatta
Formal	いいです	ii desu
Formal negative	よくないです	yoku nai desu
Formal past	よかったです	yokatta desu
Formal negative past	よくなかったです	yoku nakatta desu
Conjunctive	よくて	yokute
Conditional	よければ	yokereba
Provisional	よかったら	yokattara
Volitional	よかろう	yokarō
Adverbial	よく	yoku
Degree	よさ	yosa

Inflection of いい

Derived terms

• 頭(あたま)がいい (atama ga ii)

Etymology 2

Verb

いい • (ii) 

1. stem or continuative form of いう (iu) [godan]

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of いい – see the following entry.

【飯】4 [noun] (archaic) cooked grains, especially cooked rice [proper noun] a surname

(This term, いい (ī), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as いい, see Category:Japanese kanji read as いい.)

References

1. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
2. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN