Monday, September 12, 2011

Expressing Your Feelings in Japanese Part 1

By learning the 気 idioms, you're learning 2 words for the price of 1. You can study not only the literal meaning of the 気 partner word, but also the idiomatic meaning when used with 気.

You probably already know what 気 means, right? It means feeling, mind, sensation. It's the "ki" in genki. Now look at how many of your feelings you can express by learning its idiomatic expressions.

The "気 ’s”

ある  to have       気がある to be interested in
ちる  to scatter     気が散る to be distracted
はれる   to clear     気が晴れる to feel relieved
はりつめる to stretch     気が張り詰める to be fully alert
はやい   fast     気が早い to be hasty
ひける  to pull back    気が引ける to feel ashamed
めいる  to go down     気が滅入る to get depressed
おおきい big      気が大きい to be generous
おもい    heavy    気が重い to be depressing
すすまない to not proceed  気が進まない to not be in the mood for
たっている  standing    気が立っている to be on edge
つく    to become aware  気がつく to be attentive

The "気 に’s”

なる  to become      気になる to feel uneasy
さわる   to interfere    気に障る to offend
する   to do     気にする to do
やむ   to be sick     気に病む to be worried


The  "気 を’s”

吐く   to spew, throw up  気を吐く to be elated
ひく   to pull      気を引く to attract
くさらす to rot     気を腐らす to be depressed
おとす  to drop     気を落とす to be disappointed
ゆるす  to trust     気を許す to let one's guard down

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