My student told me a story about a minor accident she had.  She was running in the park and twisted her ankle.  She wanted to tell me how it felt, but she couldn’t find the right words.

Describing pain in Japanese can be very simple.  One word – 痛い (itai) – can go really far.  However, in English we have a variety of ways to express pain.  To sound natural, we should use the best word for each situation.

As a bonus, using these words is a good way to practice basic English grammar.

Here are the most common words  for talking about pain:

• Pain
• Sore
• Hurt
• Ache

“Pain” is a noun (名詞 – meishi).  So we can make phrases using this structure:

I have pain in my ____.

Some common phrases using “pain”:

I have pain in my back.

I have pain in my knee.

“Sore” is an adjective (形容詞 – keiyoushi).  So, we can make phrases like this:

My _____ is sore.

I have a sore ______.

Some common phrases using “sore”:

My back is sore.

I have a sore throat.

My ankle is sore.

I have a sore finger.

“Hurt” is a verb (動詞 – doushi).  So, we can make phrases like this:

I hurt my ___.

My ___ hurts.

Some common phrases using “hurt”:

I hurt my back.

My arm hurts.

“Ache / Aches” is a noun and a verb.  As a noun, we make phrases like this:

I have a headache.

As a verb, we make phrases like this:

My ___ aches.

Here are more nouns using “ache”:

• Stomachache
• Toothache   *Not teethache
• Backache
• Earache

Natural English for talking about pain:

There are some phrases used to express pain in a more natural way.  Here are some examples:

Ouch! – We can use this word when we feel the pain.  If you hit your knee on your desk, you say: “Ouch!”

Ow! – We can use this in the same way as “Ouch!”

Kill(s) – We can use this word to talked about extreme pain in casual situations.  “Kill” is a verb.  We can use it the same way as “ache”.  But, we can’t use it with combinations: headkill, stomachkill, etc. 

My neck kills.

We can also say this:

My ankle is killing me.

Other verbs to express pain:

Sting(s) – feels similar to lemon juice on a cut.

→ I got shampoo in my eyes – it stings!

Burn(s) – it is the feeling of fire on your skin.

→ I put tiger balm on my neck – it burns!

Throb(s) – it is pain that increases and decreases when your heart beats. 

→ My tooth is throbbing.  I should go to the dentist soon.

So, how are you feeling today?  I hope you don’t have to talk about pain often.  But, if you do, now you know how.

Everybody be careful out there!

Have you ever used an online translator or Japanese-English dictionary to quickly translate words or phrases?  Did you try the translation in a conversation?  Did you get a good result?

My student is keen on learning words related to his business.  He made a list of words he wanted to practice during our lesson.  He typed the words into an online translator and wrote down the translation.   In the lesson he used one of these words.  There was some confusion and the conversation broke down.

What happened?  What was the problem?

The problem was, the Japanese word the student wanted to use has a variety of translations.  The English word is a correct translation, but it didn’t fit the context of the conversation.  I asked the student for the Japanese word and typed it into my favorite online dictionary (www.jisho.org).   There were four entries.  The first three entries didn’t match the context of the conversation.  The fourth entry was appropriate for the conversation.  He didn’t know the difference between the four words, so he just took the first one and went with it.

Here is an example:  The Japanese word 遠慮 (えんりょ / enryo) has the following translations according to the online dictionary www.jisho.org: 

As you can see, there are 13 different translations!

So, how can you choose the appropriate word for the situation?  To be honest, it’s quite difficult.  I recommend asking your teacher.  You can say:  “I don’t know this word in English.  I think it means ◯◯.  Is that right?”  Also, try making a sentence using the word.  This will give context for the teacher to help you.

Context is important when translating words and phrases.  Online translators and dictionaries often lack context which results in inappropriate translations.    Work with your teacher to find the best word for the situation.

Natural English used in this entry:

Keen = interested

go with it (went with it) = to use something

lack = don’t have enough