Vocabulary What does 来 (らい~) mean? 来 (らい~, rai~) means next, coming (prefix, e.g. 来週, 来年). Quick factsReadingらい~Romajirai~Level (estimated, JLPT framework)N3 来らい~N3 · estimated, JLPT frameworkrai~next, coming (prefix, e.g. 来週, 来年)Example sentences来年(らいねん)日本(にほん)へ行(い)きます。Next year I'm going to Japan.来週(らいしゅう)試験(しけん)があります。There's an exam next week.Kanji in this word来to come; future