Moving your body
Collocations, Stage 4chunk 24 of 25Body & health
Body instructions heard in class, at the doctor or at a massage: raise your hand, close your eyes, relax.
- te o ageruraise your hand
- me o tojiruclose your eyes
- chikara o nukurelax (your body), loosen up
Mix-ups Eyes take tojiru, not shimeru (which is for doors and windows). chikara o nuku pulls the strength out and is the opposite of chikara o ireru. te o ageru can also mean raising a hand to someone (hitting them).
te o ageru
polite te o agemasuraise your hand
手を挙げる てをあげる 手を挙げます
verbageru 挙げるraise, lift up; the same-sounding ageru also means givetypical 5% of te
Heard in class, at meetings and at events as a request: shitsumon aru hito, te agete. With ni and a person it means raising a hand against them: kodomo ni te o ageru (hit a child).
shitsumon aru hito, te agete.
Anyone with a question, put your hand up.
質問ある人、手挙げて。
shitsumon ga aru kata wa, te o agete kudasai.
If you have a question, please raise your hand.
質問がある方は、手を挙げてください。
Films inflate the count with police shouting te o agero (hands up!). Putting it down is te o orosu.
Same verb: ude (arm), kao (face: kao agete = look up), ashi (leg)Main list: ageru (Stage 2)
me o tojiru
polite me o tojimasuclose your eyes
目を閉じる めをとじる 目を閉じます
verbtojiru 閉じるclose, shut (eyes, a book, an app); doors and windows take shimeru insteadtypical 6% of me
trap Doors and windows take shimeru, so learners say me o shimeru. Eyes take tojiru, or the casual tsuburu: me tsubutte.
Mostly heard as a request, me tojite: at the dentist under the lamp, with eye drops, or before a surprise. Photos are the opposite: me tsubutchatta (I blinked). Casual speech uses me tsubutte just as much, and o often drops in both.
ii tte iu made, me tojitete ne.
Keep your eyes shut till I say so.
いいって言うまで、目閉じててね。
ii to iu made, me o tojite ite kudasai ne.
Please keep your eyes closed until I say so.
いいと言うまで、目を閉じていてくださいね。
Opening them again is me o akeru. Me o tsuburu also means 'let it slide' (overlook a fault).
Same verb: hon (book), kasa (umbrella), apuri (app)Learn alongside: doa o akeru, doa o shimeru, doa ga aku, doa ga shimaru, mado o akeru, mado o shimeru, kaaten o shimeru
chikara o nuku
polite chikara o nukimasurelax (your body), loosen up
力を抜く ちからをぬく 力を抜きます
verbnuku 抜くpull out, take out (a tooth, a plug); let out (air, tension); also skip (a meal)typical 2% of chikara
Heard as an instruction at massages, the doctor's, sport and yoga: chikara nuite, or motto kata no chikara nuite. O often drops in the request.
motto chikara nuite. sou, sono kanji.
Relax more. Yes, like that.
もっと力抜いて。そう、その感じ。
motto chikara o nuite kudasai. hai, sono kanji desu.
Please relax a bit more. Yes, that's it.
もっと力を抜いてください。はい、その感じです。
The opposite is chikara o ireru (put strength in). Rirakkusu shite is the other everyday instruction; chikara nuite targets a tense part (kata no chikara nuite), and kata no chikara o nuku also means 'stop trying so hard'.
Same verb: kuuki (air: let air out of a tyre), ki (attention: ki o nuku = let your guard down)Main list: motto (Stage 1)