仕方無い shikatanai It Can't Be Helped

Both are 仕方が無い in the shapes people say it, the first with the particle clipped, the second with 仕様 for 仕方, two words for a way of doing; the Daijisen dictionary notes that 仕様が無い is now mostly pronounced shō ga nai. The sense is the same in all three: a thing is beyond changing and the speaker has stopped looking for a way. Of a person the phrase means hopeless; of a feeling, unbearably. Both forms are on this page, each design with its own characters.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 仕方無い.

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