What to say when you are not feeling well. Posted by keiko on Feb 17, 2014 in Grammar
Here in Portland, we’ve just gone through a pretty heavy winter storm recently. Hope everyone is doing well in this winter season. The cold snowy weather prompted me to this topic: what to say when you are not feeling well in Japanese. I sure hope that you won’t have to use this too often, but just in case, these are the expressions that you can use when you are under the weather.
~が痛いです。(~ga itai.)
いたい、痛いmeans it hurts. In English, we have vocabularies, such as stomachache, headache, and so on. In Japanese, we also have those expressions, but let me introduce you to simpler expressions first.
Also, by adding the word, “desu(です)”, it will sound more polite; however, it is not necessary to add it all the time. It will depend on who you are talking to….
One thing to note here is that you don’t have to add “watashino(わたしの)” at the beginning of the sentence, like when we speak in English, such as “My” ear hurts. We often omit the subject while we speak in Japanese. It sounds more natural that way.
Here are the examples:
Japanese | Hiragana | Pronunciation | English Translation |
頭が痛い | あたまがいたい | atama ga itai | My head hurts./ I have a headache. |
お腹が痛い | おなかがいたい | onaka ga itai | My stomach hurts./I have a stomachache. |
足が痛い | あしがいたい | ashi ga itai | My feet hurts. |
背中が痛い | せなかがいたい | senaka ga itai | My back hurts |
腰が痛い | こしがいたい | koshiga itai | My hip hurts. |
足首が痛い | あしくびがいたい | ashikubu ga itai | My ankle hurts. |
喉が痛い | のどがいたい | nodo ga itai | My throat hurts./I have a sore throat. |
耳が痛い | みみがいたい | mimi ga itai | My ear hurts. |
Now you got the idea…this is a good opportunity to learn some body parts in Japanese.
あたま=(atama)head
め=(me)eyes
みみ=(mimi)ears
くち=(kuchi)mouth
はな=(hana)nose
のど=(nodo)throat
かた=(kata)shoulder
むね=(mune)chest
うで=(ude)arm
おなか=(onaka)stomach
へそ=(heso)belly botton
もも=(momo)thigh
ひざ=(hiza)knee
すね=(sune)shin
あし=(ashi)leg
Stay healthy, everyone!
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