【風邪（かぜ）】”KAZE”
Meaning:
(common) cold
Usage:
「風邪を治すには、睡眠が一番大切だと思う。」
（かぜをなおすには、すいみんがいちばんたいせつだとおもう。）
(Kaze o naosu niwa, suimin ga ichiban taisetsu dato omou.)
”I think sleep is the most important thing to cure a cold.”
- In Japan, people often eat udon noodles, porridge, and apples when they have a cold. When someone is sick in bed with a cold, the family will often make these foods for them. What kind of food do you often eat when you have a cold in your country?
- When looking for a medicine to ease the symptoms of a cold, remember the word 「風邪薬 (かぜぐすり / kaze-gusuri)」. That’s the medicine that relieves the various symptoms of the common cold. The medicines for each of these symptoms are as follows:
- 頭痛薬 (ずつうやく / zutsū-yaku): pain killers, fever reducer
*The literal meaning of the word is a headache medicine. Please consult your pharmacist when purchasing. - 咳止め (せきどめ / seki-dome): cough medicine
- 鼻炎薬 (びえんやく / bien-yaku): sinus medicine, antihistamines
*The literal meaning of the word is rhinitis medicine, which is used to stop a runny nose. Medicines for stopping a runny nose caused by allergies such as hay fever are also sold in this section. - 胃薬 (いぐすり / i-gusuri): stomach medicine
- 整腸剤 (せいちょうざい / seichō-zai): antibiotics
- 頭痛薬 (ずつうやく / zutsū-yaku): pain killers, fever reducer
Glossary:
- 風邪（かぜ）: (common) cold
- 治す（なおす）: to cure; to heal
- 睡眠（すいみん）: sleep
- 一番（いちばん）: number 1; the best; the most
- 大切（たいせつ）: important
- 思う（おもう）: to think; to feel; to believe
【頭痛（ずつう）】”ZUTSŪ”
Meaning:
headache
Usage:
「日本で一番有名な市販の頭痛薬はバファリンです。」
（にほんでいちばんゆうめいなしはんのずつうやくはばふぁりんです。）
(Nihon de ichiban yūmei na shihan no zutsū-yaku wa bafarin desu.)
“The most famous over-the-counter headache medicine in Japan is Bufferin.”
- Bufferin (Bufferin A) is an aspirin headache medicine (pain reliever & fever reducer). It can be purchased at pharmacies and is useful when you want to soothe a headache. (If the pain persists, please go to the hospital.)
Glossary:
- 日本（にほん）: Japan
- 一番（いちばん）: number 1; the best; the most
- 有名（ゆうめい）: famous
- 市販（しはん）: selling in the market; over-the-counter
- 頭痛薬（ずつうやく）: headache medicine
【咳（せき）】”SEKI”
Meaning:
cough
Usage:
「咳が出る間は、休んだ方がいいですよ。」
（せきがでるあいだは、やすんだほうがいいですよ。）
(Seki ga deru aida wa, yasunda hou ga īdesuyo.)
“While you are coughing, you should take sick leave.” (=While your coughing persists, you should take sick leave.)
- After the COVID-19 pandemic started, the number of people going to work with a cough became much less, but before that, there were many people who went to work even if they had a fever or couldn’t stop coughing. (Even though full-time workers are entitled to at least 10 days of paid leave per year… Yes, we use paid leave for sick days…)
Glossary:
- 咳（せき）: cough
- 咳が出る（せきがでる）: to cough
- ～間（あいだ）: while; during
- 休む（やすむ）: to rest; to take a sick leave; to take a day off; to be absent
- ～した方がいい（したほうがいい）: to be better doing […]; should do […]
【喉が痛い（のどがいたい）】”NODO GA ITAI”
Meaning:
to have a sore throat
Usage:
「喉が痛い時は、無理に喋らない方がいいよ。」
（のどがいたいときは、むりにしゃべらないほうがいいよ。）
(Nodo ga itai toki wa, muri ni shaberanai hou ga īyo.)
“If you have a sore throat, you shouldn’t try to speak.”
- The literal meaning of「喉が痛い (のどがいたい / nodo ga itai)」is “(my) throat hurts”.
- In Japan, there is a folk remedy that has been passed down from generation to generation for eating 「ハチミツ大根 (はちみつだいこん / hachimitu daikon / “honey daikon-radish”)」 when you have a sore throat. All you have to do is dice up the daikon-radish and dip it in plenty of honey. After a few hours, the juice will come out of the daikon-radish and you eat it with the honey. You can also drink it with hot water. *Do not feed this to infants under 1 year old to prevent infant botulism.
Glossary:
- 喉（のど）: throat
- 痛い（いたい）: painful *It is an adjective, but we use it like the verb “hurt”.
- 喉が痛い（のどがいたい）: to have a sore throat; (my) throat hurts
- 無理に～する（むりに～する）: to force oneself to do […]
- 喋る（しゃべる）: to talk; to chat; to speak
- ～しない方がいい（しないほうがいい）:to be better not doing […]; should not do […]
【鼻水（はなみず）】”HANAMIZU”
Meaning:
runny nose
Usage:
「小さい子はよく鼻水が出る。」
（ちいさいこはよくはなみずがでる。）
(Chīsai-ko wa yoku hanamizu ga deru.)
“Small children often have runny noses.”
- Verbs related to runny noses:
- to have runny nose: 鼻水が出る (はなみずがでる / hanamizu ga deru)
*You can also say 「鼻が出る (はながでる / hana ga deru)」. - to blow one’s nose: 鼻をかむ (はなをかむ / hana o kamu)
- to wipe your nose: 鼻を拭く (はなをふく / hana o fuku)
- to sniffle: 鼻をすする (はなをすする / hana o susuru)
- to have runny nose: 鼻水が出る (はなみずがでる / hanamizu ga deru)
Glossary:
- 小さい（ちいさい）: small
- 子（こ）: child(ren); kid(s)
- よく～する: to do […] often
- 鼻水（はなみず）: runny nose
- 鼻水が出る（はなみずがでる）: to have a runny nose
【熱（ねつ）】”NETSU”
Meaning:
fever
Usage:
「熱がある方は、ご入場いただけません。」
（ねつがあるかたは、ごにゅうじょういただけません。）
(Netsu ga aru kata wa, go-nyūjō itadakemasen.)
“Those with a (high) fever will not be allowed to enter.”
Glossary:
- 熱（ねつ）: temperature; fever
- 熱がある（ねつがある）: to have a (high) fever
- ～する方（するかた）: those who do […]; person doing […]
- 入場（にゅうじょう）: to enter
- ～いただけません: not to be allowed to do […]
【だるい】”DARUI”
Meaning:
to feel dull, weary, heavy
Usage:
「今日はなんだかだるくて、何もやる気が起きない。」
（きょうはなんだかだるくて、なにもやるきがおきない。）
(Kyō wa nandaka darukute, nanimo yaruki ga okinai.)
“I feel really dull and don’t feel like doing anything today.”
- The word 「だるい (darui)」 can be used to describe both physical and mental conditions. It is the feeling of not wanting to get out of bed because you are physically tired or sick and your body feels heavy.
To use it in a mental way, for example, when you come home and have just sat down on the couch, and your parents say, “Can you go on some errands?” and you don’t want to do it because it’s a hassle; this feeling can be expressed with this word.
Glossary:
- 今日（きょう）: today
- なんだか: somehow; sort of;
- だるい: to feel dull, weary, heavy
- 何も～ない（なにも～ない）: not […] anything; not at all
- やる気（やるき）: motivation
- やる気が起きる（やるきがおきる）: to feel/get motivated
