In Lesson 3, we learned that for the English verbs “like,” “dislike” and “want,” we use the pattern “[person] は [target of desire] が [adjective] です”
We use a similar pattern to describe our body parts or our skills.
In general, は is a topic marker and が is a subject marker, so “xxx は yyy が xxx です” literally means “Talking about xxx, yyy is zzz.”
わたし は おなか が いたい です (おなか = stomach, いたい = painful) therefore means “As for me, my stomach is painful,” i.e. “I have a stomachache.”
How to use this pattern.
- [person] は [body part] が いたい です。= [person] has sore/painful [body part]
- [person] は [body part] が かゆい です。= [person] has itchy [body part]
- [person] は [body part] が [noun/adjective] です。= [person] has [adjective] [body part].
- [person] は [activity] が じょうず です。= [person] is good at [activity].
- [person] は [activity] が へた です。= [person] is bad at [activity].
Words for Body Parts (they are all nouns)
| あし | ashi | foot, feet, leg(s) |
| あたま | atama | head |
| おなか | onaka | stomach |
| かお | kao | (a person’s) face |
| かみ | kami | hair (as the whole) |
| からだ | karada | body |
| くち | kuchi | mouth, orifice, opening |
| こえ | koe | voice |
| せい/せ | sei/se | height, stature |
| て | te | hand |
| は | ha | tooth |
| はな | hana | nose |
| みみ | mimi | ear |
| め | me | eye, eyeball |
Words for Colours
| いろ | iro | noun | colour |
| あお | ao | noun | blue |
| あか | aka | noun | red |
| きいろ | kiiro | noun | yellow |
| くろ | kuro | noun | black |
| しろ | shiro | noun | white |
| ちゃいろ | chairo | noun | brown |
| みどり | midori | noun | green |
| あおい | aoi | いadj | blue |
| あかい | akai | いadj | red |
| きいろい | kiiroi | いadj | yellow |
| くろい | kuroi | いadj | black |
| しろい | shiroi | いadj | white |
Adjectives for Status/Condition
| いい/よい | ii/yoi | いadj | good |
| いたい | itai | いadj | painful, sore |
| かゆい | kayui | いadj | itchy |
| たかい | takai | いadj | tall, high |
| ながい | nagai | いadj | long |
| ひくい | hikui | いadj | short, low |
| まるい | marui | いadj | round, circular |
| みじかい | mijikai | いadj | short (opposite of long) |
| わるい | warui | いadj | bad, inferior |
| じょうず | jouzu | なadj | skilful, good |
| へた | heta | なadj | unskilful, poor |
Examples
- わたし は かぜを ひきました。あたま が いたい です。
Watashi wa kaze wo hikimashita. atama ga itai desu.
I’ve caught a cold. I have a headache. - (わたし は)* おなか が いたい です。
(watashi wa)* onaka ga itai desu.
I have tummy-ache. - (わたし は)* め が かゆい です。
(watashi wa)* me ga kayui desu.
I have itchy eyes. - あに は め が みどり です。
ani wa me ga midori desu.
My older brother has green eyes. - あね は せ が たかい です。
ane wa se ga takai desu.
My older sister is tall (<- My older sister has high stature.) - はは は こえ が ちいさい です。
haha wa koe ga chiisai desu.
My mother has small voice. => My mother talks softly. - あには かみ が ながい です。
ani wa gami ga nagai desu.
My older brother has long hair. - あねは こえ が きれい です。
ane wa koe ga kirei desu.
My older sister has beautiful voice. - あには スキーが じょうず です。(Japanese people tend not to use this structure for yourself. Also, you don’t use じょうず for somebody else’s professional skills.)
ani wa suki- ga jouzu desu.
My older brother is good as skiing. - （わたしは）* えが へた です。
(watashi wa) * e ga heta desu.
I’m not good at drawing.
* ( ) part is often skipped.
Suggested Activities
- Describe your and somebody else’s physical features.
- Describe your and somebody else’s strong and weak points.
Course: JLPT N5
