by Tomoyuki Higuchi
How do you say “I have a toothache.” in Japanese?
Today’s phrase is :
I have a toothache.
歯が痛い。
haga itai
- I have … ＝ わたしは … がある watashiwa … ga aru
- a toothache ＝ 歯の痛み hano itami
The literal translation of “I have a toothache.” is “わたしは歯の痛みがある (watashiwa hanoitamiga aru)”, but we do not usually say like that.
We usually say “歯が痛い” when we have a toothache.
We do not usually say “わたしは = I” in everyday conversation.
“歯 (ha)” means “tooth” and “痛い (itai)” means “hurt”.
歯が
tooth
＋
痛い
hurts
If you want to speak politely, you can say :
歯が痛いです。
haga itaidesu
(casual)
歯が痛い。
(polite)
歯が痛いです。