How to Say “I have a headache.” in Japanese

How do you say “I have a headache.” in Japanese?

Today’s phrase is :

I have a headache.

頭痛い。

 atama itai

If you want to speak politely, you can say :

頭痛いです。

 atama itaidesu

Pronunciation

  • I have … = わたしは … がある watashiwa … ga aru
  • a headache = 頭痛 zutsuu

The literal translation of “I have a headache.” is “わたしは頭痛がある (watashiwa zutsuuga aru)”, but we do not usually say like that.

We usually say “頭痛い” when we have a headache. “頭 (atama)” means “head” and “痛い (itai)” means “hurt”.

We do not usually say “わたしは = I” in everyday conversation.



head

痛い
hurts