Happy Sunday Japanophiles, Herewith is the 52nd issue of the Hai Japan Newsletter — your Weekly Dose of Japan!

Today, we’re simply going through some grammar:

い-Adjective がる (Expressing Seemingly Felt Emotions) from tofugo.com

Adjective Form

Grammar Equation: い-adj (Stem) + がる

い-adjectives can take the suffix 〜がる to describe how other people seem to feel, based on their appearance or behavior. This construction expresses your interpretation of someone's emotional state rather than stating it as a fact.

Table of Contents:

1. What Is い-Adjective がる?

2. Using がる in Different Tenses

3. がる to Talk About Yourself

4. Using Particles with がる

5. がり for Nouns

1. What Is い-Adjective がる?

い-adjectives often describe emotions or states, such as happiness or sadness. When describing someone else's feelings, you use 〜がる, which means "showing signs of..." or "appears to be..."

Formation: Drop the final 〜い from the adjective and add 〜がる.

• 悲しい (kanashii, sad) → 悲しがる (kanashigaru, appears sad)

• 寒い (samui, cold) → 寒がる (samugaru, appears cold)

Once 〜がる is attached, the word functions as a verb, not an adjective.

2. Using がる in Different Tenses

〜がる is commonly used with adjectives related to emotions or physical sensations.

• 嬉しがる (ureshigaru, appears happy)

• 痛がる (itagaru, appears in pain)

• 怖がる (kowagaru, appears scared)

Continuous Forms: Often used to describe observable states or behaviors.

• 松本さんは羨ましがっている。 (Matsumoto-san wa urayamashigatteiru.)
  Matsumoto seems to be jealous.

• 私が勝った時、松本さんは羨ましがっていた。 (Watashi ga katta toki, Matsumoto-san wa urayamashigatteita.)
  Matsumoto seemed to be jealous when I won.

Simple Present for Hypotheticals:

• お兄ちゃんが家を出たらお母さんが寂しがる。 (Oniichan ga ie o detara okaasan ga sabishigaru.)
  If my brother moves out, mom will feel lonely.

3. がる to Talk About Yourself

Although 〜がる is usually for others, it can describe how your behavior signals your feelings to someone else.

• 私がお菓子をほしがると、姉はいつもわけてくれる。 (Watashi ga okashi o hoshigaru to, ane wa itsumo wakete kureru.)
  When I show that I want snacks, my sister always shares them with me.

If you simply wanted to state your desire directly, you would omit 〜がる:

• お菓子がほしい。(Okashi ga hoshii.) I want snacks.

4. Using Particles with がる

When using 〜がる to describe someone else's feelings, replace が with を for the object of their feeling.

• 僕は松本さんが羨ましい。 (Boku wa Matsumoto-san ga urayamashii.)
  I am jealous of Matsumoto.

• 松本さんは僕を羨ましがっている。 (Matsumoto-san wa boku o urayamashigatteiru.)
  Matsumoto seems to be jealous of me.

5. がり for Nouns

Conjugating 〜がる into its stem form creates a noun meaning "a person who shows signs of..."

• 寂しがり (sabishigari, someone who easily feels lonely) → 寂しがり屋 (sabishigariya, a lonely person)

• 怖がり (kowagari, a timid person or scaredy-cat)

• 寒がり (samugari, someone who feels cold easily)

• 暑がり (atsugari, someone who feels hot easily)

Adding 屋 (や) emphasizes that the trait is a defining characteristic (e.g., 寂しがり屋: "a person who is often lonely").

Summary:

• Use 〜がる with い-adjectives to express observed emotions or sensations.

• がる verbs follow standard verb conjugation patterns.

• Use を, not が, with 〜がる when describing others' feelings.

• The がり form turns feelings into nouns describing personality traits.

Mastering 〜がる will help you express subtle observations about people’s feelings and behaviors more naturally in Japanese.

That’s all folks!

Let me know if you enjoyed this simple grammar run-through :)

Have a great Sunday!