Your friends gets a new job.

A new, stunning lover.

A plane ticket to paradise.

You could say, "Ah I'm so jealous!"

Or, "No fair!"

But can we maintain these playful nuances using Japanese equivalents?!

How do we say, "I'm jealous" without sounding bitter or upset?

Let's look at some phrases...

Set A - Friendly Jealous

Your horribly blessed friend says:

明日からバケーションなんだ。
ashia kara bakeeshon nan da.
I'm going on vacation tomorrow!
(Literally: "tomorrow + from + vacation + なん + is.")

If you think that this sounds awesome, and you're a little jealous, and you want to congratulate him by expressing your jealousy, then you could say...

いいなー
ii naa
That sounds amazing. // I'm jealous.
(Literally: "good + なー.")

Similarly, you could also say:

羨ましいなー
urayamashii naa
I'm jealous. // Ah, I'm so jealous.
(Literally: "jealous + なー.")

The key here is this なー.

I mentioned yesterday that な is like "inward ね." So you're saying to yourself:Ah, I'm so jealous // Ah, that sounds great. Well... "saying it to yourself" in front of the listener.

For a bit of contrast, notice how we'd translate these with ね:

いいね
ii ne.
Nice. // Sounds fun.
(Literally: "good + ね.")
(Note: Unlike, いいなー, this does not have the nuance of jealousy in it.)

羨ましいね
urayamashii ne
He's so lucky, huh?
(Literally: "jealous + ね.")
(Note: To make this translation work, we have to add a third person. So we have (A) the person going on vacation, (B) the person talking, and (C) the person being spoken to. The nuance is "You and I are jealous of him, huh?")

Set B - Upset Jealou

So in Set A, we looked at phrases that have a sense of longing to them. The speaker wants to experience someone else's good fortune.

We can also, however, use phrases that express displeasure with the situation itself, particularly by using the Japanese equivalents of phrases like, "That's so unfair."

Let's say you (a male) were walking around in Roppongi, hoping to find a nice, cheap club where you can dance your heart out without completely emptying your wallet.

Then you come across this:

《看板》 入場女性無料！男性1000円
《kanban》 nyuujou josei muryou! dansei sen en
《sign》 Girls get in free! Guys 1,000 yen.
(Literally: "sign + entry/admission + females + free! + males + 1000 + yen.")

(Note: This is, for example, a sign that you might see outside of a small club in Tokyo somewhere.)

Dude.

So unfair.

As such, you can say...

不公平だ！
fukouhei da!
No fair!
(Literally: "unfair + is!")

Or, let's say you're a girl, and one of your friends tells you...

明日イケメンと合コンなんだ
ashita ikemen to goukon nan da.
I'm going on a group date with some good-looking guys tomorrow.
(Literally: "tomorrow + good-looking guy + with + goukon + なん + is.")

(Note: A 合コン is kind of like a group blind date. Usually it starts with 1 guy and 1 girl that know each other, then they set up a dinner date with an additional 2 guys and 2 girls, and the six of them chat and hang out. In the U.S., I think you'd just invite each other to a party or something, but they seem to like having these structured forms of socialization in Japan. At a party, after all, there's too much pressure to talk to strangers!!)

Anyways, you could respond to your friend with:

ずるい！
zurui!
No fair!
(Literally: "sly / dishonest / sneaky / crafty!")
(Note: I think this sounds just a bit feminine.)

I think males can say ずるい, but maybe it's just not as common (or more of an intonation problem).

For example, if your coworker brings an amazing lunch box full of delicious-looking healthy, homemade treats from his wife, you could say:

愛妻弁当か？ずるいなー
aisai bentou ka? zurui naa
Your wife made you lunch? Lucky...
(Literally: "beloved wife bento + か? + sly + なー.")
(Note: 愛妻弁当 is pretty much one word--it refers to a bento box prepared [with loving care] by one's wife.)