Lesson 50 - What's the matter?

In the past, you have learned a lot of body part names. Now, you will learn how to say they hurt. The adjective for painful is itai. You can use this to describe just about anything that hurts you. Byouki means illness, but you only use this when you really feel bad and have a fever, called netsu. If you just feel under the weather, you would say Guai wa chotto warui desu. Guai is sort of like your condition, and chottomeans little, so you're basically saying, "My condition is a little bad." Healthy, which you already know, is genki. The phrase Sore wa ikemasen ne basically means "That's unfortunate." To ask, what's wrong, you would ask dou shimashita ka.

The word for your throat is nodo. If you wanted to say you were thirsty, you would say Nodo ga kawakimashita or "My throat has dried up." Alternatively, you can say Nodo ga kawaite imasen, which means your not thirsty. For hunger, onaka ga suikimashita is "My stomach has emptied" or I am hungry, but to say you aren't, you would say Onaka ga suite imasen. Don't worry about the grammar too much now.
Let's have a small conversation between Takeo and Yasuo.

Takeo: Yasuo kun, dou shimashita ka.
Yasuo: Byouki desu. Netsu ga arimasu. Atama ga itai desu. Nodo mo itai desu.
Takeo: Sore wa ikemasen ne.Watashi wa genki janai desu.
Yasuo: Dou shimashita ka.
Takeo: Guai wa chotto warui desu. Karada ga itai desu.
Yasuo: Ureshii desu ka.
Takeo: Hai. Tsumaranai desu ka.
Yasuo: Hai, totemo tsumaranai desu.

Here, Takeo asks Yasuo what's wrong. Yasuo replies, "I am sick. I have a fever. My head hurts. My throat hurts too." Takeo says, "That's unfortunate. I am not healthy." Yasuo then asks him what's wrong. Takeo says, "I don't feel well. My body hurts." Yasuo asks him if he is happy, or ureshii. Takeo replies yes, and asks him if he is bored, or tsumaranai. Yasuo says he is very bored.

Vocabulary Review
痛い Itai- painful
病気 Byouki- sick
元気 Genki- healthy
Netsu- fever
具合はちょっと悪いです Guai wa chotto warui desu- I don't feel well
それはいけませんね Sore wa ikemasen ne- That's unfortunate
どうしましたか Dou shimashita ka- What's wrong?
喉が乾きました Nodo ga kawakimashita- I am thirsty
御腹が空きました Onaka ga sukimashita- I am hungry
うれしい Ureshii- happy
つまらない Tsumaranai- bored