つまらない (tsumaranai) means “boring,” “uninteresting,” or “trivial.” It can describe a film or activity, but also a person: つまらない人 means a boring person. To say you feel bored, 退屈だ is often clearer. つまらないものですが is a modest phrase sometimes used when giving a gift.
also tsumannai / tsumaranakatta / tsumaranasou
boring · dull · trivial · not worth much
Sentences
つまらない · the plain verdict
plain。
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この
この
this
determiner · この goes straight onto a noun, never この の
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映画
えいが ［1］
film
noun · 映 projection ＋ 画 picture
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は
は
as for — the topic
particle · written は, read わ
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つまらない
つまらない
is dull
い-adjective · it describes the film, not how you feel
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This film is dull.
つまらなくて · the て-form as a reason
plain、。
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授業
じゅぎょう ［1］
the class
noun · a lesson or a lecture; 授業中 is “during class”
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が
が
marks the subject
particle · what the sentence is about — with 好き, 分かる and potentials, the object
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つまらなくて
つまらなくて
was so dull that…
て-form of an い-adjective · gives the cause of whatever follows
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寝て
ねて
fell asleep, and…
て-form of 寝る · glues this clause onto the next
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しまった
しまった
…which I did not mean to
てしまう · regret, or an action carried through to the end
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The class was so dull I fell asleep.
つまらない · the trivial sense
plain。
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つまらない
つまらない
trivial
い-adjective · the other sense — not dull, but not worth the space
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こと
こと
the act of; the fact of
noun · turns the verb in front into a noun
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を
を
marks the direct object
particle · pronounced お
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気にする
きにする
let it bother you
set phrase · 気 ＋ に ＋ する; 気になる is the involuntary twin
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な
な
don't
prohibitive · blunt, and only ever attaches to a plain-form verb
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Don't let a little thing like that bother you.
つまんない · the spoken contraction
plain。
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一人
ひとり ［2］
alone; by yourself
noun · read ひとり, irregularly; 一人で is “on my own”
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で
で
in; at — where it happens
particle · where the action happens, or the manner it happens in
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待つ
まつ ［1］
waiting
verb · 待っている for the ongoing state
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の
の
the act of — (nominaliser)
の turns the verb into a noun so は can mark it
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は
は
as for — the topic
particle · written は, read わ
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つまんない
つまんない
is such a bore
spoken contraction of つまらない · casual speech only, never written
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Waiting on your own is such a bore.
つまらなかった · the past
plain。
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思った
おもった
expected
plain past of 思う · 思ったより is the set comparison
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より
より
than
particle · marks the standard being compared against, and precedes it
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つまらなかった
つまらなかった
was duller
plain past · い-adjectives change their own ending, so no だった
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It was duller than I expected.
つまらないものですが · handing over a gift
polite、。
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つまらない
つまらない
a trifling
い-adjective · modesty about your own present, not a review of it
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もの
もの
thing
noun · deliberately vague, because naming the present would show it off
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です
です
(polite ending)
copula · the phrase is frozen in polite form
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が
が
but
conjunction · it trails off unfinished, which is the point
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どうぞ
どうぞ
please, take it
adverb · the all-purpose “go ahead”, here completing the offer
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It's nothing much, but please take it.
Forms
Noun ＋ は/が＋つまらない
この映画はつまらない. Polite is つまらないです — the です adds politeness and nothing else, because the adjective is already a complete predicate.
つまらない＋Noun
No な and no の — い-adjectives attach directly. つまらない話, つまらないミス, つまらない理由. In front of a noun the “trivial” sense is usually the one meant.
つまらな＋かった / くて / くない
Past つまらなかった, て-form つまらなくて, negative つまらなくない. Polite past is つまらなかったです, stacking です on the finished form.
つまらないものですが＋どうぞ
The gift formula, frozen in polite form. It trails off on が on purpose — finishing the sentence would make the modesty sound rehearsed.
Meaning
つまらない is a verdict on something. A film, a class, a party, a book: it did not come together, so there is nothing in it. English lets you aim “boring” both ways — a boring lecture, and “I'm so bored” — and Japanese does not. つまらない人 can describe a boring person, but 私はつまらない does not mean “I am bored.”
退屈 is the state; つまらない is the evaluation. 退屈だ can be either “I am bored” or “it is boring”, and whatever the sentence marks as its subject decides which. So 私は退屈だ is I am bored — and 私はつまらない is I am a boring person, which is a sentence learners produce constantly and never mean. If you are bored, say 退屈だ, or name the thing: この授業はつまらない.
The second sense has nothing to do with boredom. つまらない also means trivial, not worth the space it takes up — つまらないことで喧嘩する to fight over nothing, つまらないミス a silly mistake, つまらない理由 a flimsy reason. Before a noun this is usually the reading. くだらない is its harsher cousin: worthless, and openly contemptuous.
つまらないものですが is not an insult to your own gift. It is the standard line for handing something over — “it's nothing much, but please” — and the modesty is the whole point. Younger speakers increasingly find it odd and reach for 心ばかりの品ですが or simply よかったらどうぞ, but you will still hear the original constantly, especially anywhere formal. Casual speech contracts the word instead: つまんない everywhere, つまらん in blunter registers — neither of which you write down.
Inside the word
言 speech beside 吉 for the sound. It is the character of things pressed tightly together: 詰める to cram in, 詰まる to be packed or blocked, 缶詰 canned food, and 行き詰まる, to reach a dead end. 詰まる also means to come together and settle — which is the sense buried in this word.
つまらない is 詰まる plus a negative that stopped being a negative and turned into an ordinary adjective. Japanese has a small family of these: くだらない from 下る, たまらない from たまる, やるせない. None of them can be un-negated — there is no つまる meaning “interesting”.
詰まらない is a real spelling and you will meet it in older text, but the link back to 詰まる has worn away and modern Japanese writes the word in kana. That is also why it takes no pitch mark on this page: the accent table lists a number for the kanji spelling and not for the bare kana one, and a guess is worse than a blank.
Watch out
It means you are a boring person. つまらない can only describe the thing, so either name the thing — この授業はつまらない — or switch words: 退屈だ and 暇だ both describe the state you are in.
い-adjectives inflect on their own, so the past is つまらなかった and the polite past is つまらなかったです — the です goes on the outside and never changes. でした after an い-adjective is one of the most audible learner errors there is.
つまらなかった about somebody's party, presentation or cooking is a flat verdict with nothing softening it. Japanese usually goes negative-of-positive instead — あまり面白くなかった — and the contraction つまんない only makes it blunter, not friendlier.
Also asked
Boring or dull — and separately trivial, not worth bothering with. It is an い-adjective and it evaluates a person or thing: この本はつまらない, this book is dull. The literal sense is “it does not come together”, from 詰まる.
つまらない for the thing, 退屈 for the state. 退屈だ works as both “I'm bored” and “it's boring” depending on the subject, while つまらない evaluates a person or thing rather than naming your bored state. So 私は退屈だ is I'm bored, and 私はつまらない is I'm a boring person.
つまらなかった plain, つまらなかったです polite. Not つまらないでした — い-adjectives carry their own past tense and です stays in the present. The negative is つまらなくない, and the て-form つまらなくて links it to a reason.
The same thing — it is つまらない with the ら swallowed, the way spoken Japanese does with 分からない → 分かんない. It is casual speech, common and not rude in itself, but it belongs to friends rather than to writing or work. つまらん is the blunter, older-sounding variant.
No. It is the set phrase for handing over a present: “it's nothing much, but…” The modesty is about the giver, not the object, and the sentence deliberately trails off on が. Some younger speakers avoid it as old-fashioned and say 心ばかりの品ですが or よかったらどうぞ instead.
It is the negative of 詰まる, to pack down and settle — so literally “it does not come together”. The kanji spelling 詰まらない exists and turns up in older writing, but the connection stopped being felt and modern Japanese leaves it in kana, the same way くだらない and たまらない lost their kanji.
References
Kotobank: 詰らない — Records uninteresting, insignificant and pointless senses and the gift formula.
Nearby
the reluctance that comes after the boredom
寂しいsabishiianother い-adjective that describes you, not the thing
そうだ vs らしい vs ようだsou da · rashii · you daつまらなそう — it looks dull, before you have watched it
JLPT N5level indexevery N5 grammar point on the site
さっぱりさっぱりanother adjective that describes the thing, not you
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