kawaisou 可哀想

WIP : this article is incomplete and might change in the unforeseeable future.

In Japanese, kawaisou 可哀想 means "oh, that poor thing!" It's a phrase used when you feel pity for something.

More literally, kawaisou 可哀想 is an ateji for kawaisou 可愛そう, which means "it seems pitiable." And that kawaisou comes from the i-adjective kawaii 可愛い, which means "cute," but can also mean "pitiable," combined with the suffix -sou ～そう, which means "it seems."

The way it's used, though, is really to express pity or sympathy for someone or something, specially right before going help them. For example:

kawaisou da
可哀想だ
[It] seems pitiable.
kare ga kawaisou da
彼が可哀想だ
He seems pitiable.
He seems [miserable.]
[I feel sorry for him.]
kawaisou dakara tasukeyou
可哀想だから助けよう
Let's help [him] because [he seems miserable].
hitori bocchi de kawaisou
一人ぼっちで可哀想
[He] seems [miserable] by being alone.
[I feel bad for him, because he's all by himself.].