When it hits you
Collocations, Stage 4chunk 22 of 25Senses & mind
Reactions to a big moment like a concert, a sad film or big news: tears come, goosebumps rise, it hasn't sunk in yet.
- namida ga derutear up, eyes water
- torihada ga tatsuget goosebumps
- jikkan ga wakuit sinks in, feels real
Mix-ups Each reaction is the subject with its own verb: namida ga deru (not naku, which is crying outright), torihada ga tatsu (stand, not deru). jikkan wakanai (it hasn't sunk in) sounds close to wakannai (I don't get it).
namida ga deru
polite namida ga demasutear up, eyes water
涙が出る なみだがでる 涙が出ます
verbderu 出るcome out, appeartypical 10% of namida
trap Learners use naku (cry) for any tears, but naku is crying from emotion. Watery eyes from a yawn, onions, hay fever or laughing are namida ga deru: akubi shitara namida deta. At a moving film both work: naita, or the softer namida deta (I teared up).
Tears that come on their own, mostly past: namida deta after a yawn, onions, laughing too hard or a moving film, with ga often dropped. namida dete kita is welling up as it happens, and namida desou (I'm going to cry) comes at a moving scene; crying outright is naku.
waraisugite namida deta.
I laughed so hard I teared up.
笑いすぎて涙出た。
waraisugite namida ga demashita.
I laughed so hard I teared up.
笑いすぎて涙が出ました。
namida ga tomaranai means the tears won't stop, from a sad film or from hay fever.
Same verb: hanamizu (runny nose), ase (sweat), kushami (sneeze), akubi (yawn)Learn alongside: torihada ga tatsuMain list: deru (Stage 1), -te kuru (Stage 4), -sugiru (Stage 4)
torihada ga tatsu
polite torihada ga tachimasuget goosebumps
鳥肌が立つ とりはだがたつ 鳥肌が立ちます
verbtatsu 立つstand, rise; here the bumps on your skin stand uptypical 60% of torihada
trap 'Get goosebumps' pulls learners toward morau or dekiru, but goosebumps 'stand up': torihada ga tatsu. It's the plain word for all goosebumps: cold, fear or being moved.
Mostly past as a reaction, with ga dropped: torihada tatta! after a great song, a scary story or a cold blast of air. mite, torihada tatteru (look, I've got goosebumps) shows them as they happen.
ima no uta, torihada tatta!
That song just gave me goosebumps!
今の歌、鳥肌立った！
ima no uta, torihada ga tachimashita.
That song just gave me goosebumps.
今の歌、鳥肌が立ちました。
Once only for cold, fear or disgust; for being moved it's now standard. torihada mono (goosebump-worthy) is the casual compliment.
Learn alongside: namida ga deruMain list: sugoi (Stage 2), kowai (Stage 4), samui (Stage 2)
jikkan ga waku
polite jikkan ga wakimasuit sinks in, feels real
実感が湧く じっかんがわく 実感が湧きます
verbwaku 湧くwell up, spring up (water, feelings)typical 11% of jikkan
trap Learners reach for mada wakaranai or rikai shite nai, which sound like you don't understand the news. Japanese says the real feeling hasn't welled up: mada jikkan wakanai. mada shinjirarenai (I still can't believe it) also works.
Mostly negative, after big news like passing an exam, a new job, a wedding or a baby: mada jikkan wakanai (it hasn't sunk in yet). jikkan nai says the same, and the polite mada jikkan ga wakanai desu is a stock line in interviews. Once it does sink in: yatto jikkan waite kita.
mada zenzen jikkan wakanai.
It still hasn't sunk in at all.
まだ全然実感湧かない。
mada zenzen jikkan ga wakanai desu.
It still hasn't sunk in at all.
まだ全然実感が湧かないです。
Don't mix up wakanai (doesn't well up, from waku) with wakannai (don't get it): one n apart.
Same verb: imeeji (imeeji ga wakanai: can't picture it), kyoumi (interest), aichaku (aichaku ga waku: grow attached)Main list: mada (Stage 1), zenzen (Stage 4), omedetou (Stage 4)