Hard work or easy
Idioms, Stage 4chunk 5 of 22Effort, ease & difficulty
How much effort a task takes, from hard work, high-maintenance and elaborately made to 'happy to help' and child's play.
- hone ga orerube hard work, take a lot of effortliterally “bones break”
- te ga kakaruneed a lot of looking afterliterally “it takes hands”
- te ga konde irube elaborate, made with real careliterally “hands get packed in”
- oyasui goyouno problem, happy to helpliterally “a cheap errand”
- asameshi maeeasy, no trouble at allliterally “before breakfast”
Mix-ups te ga kakaru (needs a lot of looking after) and te ga komu (made with real care) share te ga; oyasui goyou is a reply to a request, while asameshi mae describes a task.
hone ga oreru
polite hone ga oremasu
“bones break”
be hard work, take a lot of effort
Said of a job or task that takes real effort and patience, physical or not: kare o settoku suru no wa hone ga oreru, hone no oreru shigoto. The same words literally mean a bone broke, so context decides; casual talk often just says taihen.
Plain alternative: taihen.
kore zenbu katazukeru no, hone ga oreru na
Tidying all this up is going to be hard work.
これ全部片付けるの、骨が折れるな
kore zenbu katazukeru no wa hone ga oremasu ne
Tidying all this up is going to be hard work.
これ全部片付けるのは骨が折れますね
Written 骨が折れる · ほねがおれるHeard 58× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside te ga kakaru, te ga konde iru
te ga kakaru
polite te ga kakarimasu
“it takes hands”
need a lot of looking after
In English: a handful
Mostly about kids, pets or people who need constant looking after, often as te no kakaru ko (a handful of a kid). For a fiddly task people usually say tema ga kakaru instead; jikan ga kakaru is just taking time.
Opposite: te ga kakaranai (low-maintenance).
uchi no ko, honto te ga kakaru n da yo
My kid is such a handful.
うちの子、ほんと手がかかるんだよ
uchi no ko, hontou ni te ga kakaru n desu yo
My kid is such a handful.
うちの子、本当に手がかかるんですよ
Written 手がかかる · てがかかるHeard 47× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside hone ga oreru, te ga konde iruMain list kakaru (Stage 4)
te ga konde iru
polite te ga konde imasu
“hands get packed in”
be elaborate, made with real care
Praise for cooking, gifts, crafts or plans that clearly took a lot of work, and also for elaborate pranks or scams. You hear te no konda before nouns and te ga konderu at the end, almost never the dictionary form te ga komu.
Plain alternative: kotteru (kotta ryouri, elaborate cooking).
kore, sugoi te ga konderu ne
Wow, a lot of work went into this.
これ、すごい手が込んでるね
kore, sugoku te ga konde imasu ne
Wow, a lot of work went into this.
これ、すごく手が込んでいますね
Written 手が込んでいる · てがこんでいるHeard 44× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside hone ga oreru, te ga kakaruMain list -teru (Stage 1)
oyasui goyou
polite oyasui goyou desu
“a cheap errand”
no problem, happy to help
In English: no sweat
The cheerful yes when a friend, family member or junior asks a favour, said by the helper about the favour: oyasui goyou da yo; also X kurai oyasui goyou (that much is no trouble at all). It sounds a little old-fashioned and jokey, and to a boss or customer it can sound breezy, as if the request were trivial: say yorokonde or kashikomarimashita there. Not asameshi mae, which says how easy a task is rather than agreeing to a favour.
Plainer: ii yo, makasete (sure, leave it to me).
oyasui goyou da yo, makasete
No problem, leave it to me.
お安い御用だよ、任せて
oyasui goyou desu yo, makasete kudasai
No problem, leave it to me.
お安い御用ですよ、任せてください
Written お安い御用 · おやすいごようHeard 41× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside asameshi maeMain list yasui (Stage 3)
asameshi mae
polite asameshi mae desu
“before breakfast”
easy, no trouble at all
In English: a piece of cake
A playful boast that something is easy for you, mostly about your own ability: sonna no asameshi mae da. It sounds a little old-fashioned and jokey (younger speakers more often say yoyuu or rakushou); not oyasui goyou, which is the cheerful yes to a favour.
Plain alternative: kantan.
sonna no asameshi mae da yo
That's a piece of cake.
そんなの朝飯前だよ
sonna no asameshi mae desu yo
That's a piece of cake.
そんなの朝飯前ですよ
Written 朝飯前 · あさめしまえHeard 33× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside oyasui goyouMain list mae (Stage 3)