When you have a totally unexpected accident happening right in front of your eyes, how would you respond in Japanese? This past weekend, my older son bumped his head against the toy chest in his bedroom. He started to cry and scream and by the time I saw him, half of his face was covered with blood. I freaked out seeing blood dripped everywhere! We ended up rushing him to ER (of course this was happening late Saturday night..) He ended up getting stitches, and he is doing fine now.

So..  when things like this happen, here are some of the expressions in Japanese….

 

What happened? – どうしたの？　 Do shita no?

You can use this for any occasion when you want to just find out what’s going on.  You often use this when you are worried about someone. But depending on how you say it, if you say it with emphasis, then you are really asking “What’s happening.”

 

What the heck happened? – いったい何が起こったの？（いったい　なにが　おこったの？） Ittai naniga okottano?

“Ittai” means “~the heck”.. This expression can be also translated as “いったいどうしたの？” (Ittai doushitano?) that would mean the same thing as above.

 

I can’t believe this! – 信じられない！（しんじられない。）Shinji rarenai! 

You often add a expression like, “mou (もう)”at the begging of this as you say this, such as,  もう信じられない! (mou shinji rarenai!)

 

Are you OK? – 大丈夫？（だいじょうぶ？）　Daijo-bu?

 

Calm down. 落ち着いて。（おちついて）Ochitsuite

 

You will be OK. 大丈夫だから。(だいじょうぶだから)　Daijo-bu dakara.

 

Don’t cry.　泣かないで。(なかないで。) Nakanaide.

 

Stay still. じっとして。 Jitto shite.

 

I understand it hurts. 　痛いの分かるよ。（いたいのわかるよ。）Itaino wakaruyo.

 

Let’s go see a doctor. 医者に行こうね。（いしゃに　いこうね。）Isha ni iko ne.

 

Obviously, these are the some of the words I said to my son when I saw his face covered with blood.  These expressions are not just for emergencies, but you could also use any time you are caring for someone, or any appropriate situations.