How to Say ‘My stomach's been bothering me.’ in Japanese
胃の調子が悪くて。
i no choushi ga waruku te
[ee noh CHOH-shee ga wah-ROO-koo teh]
💬 Usage Tip: Ending on 悪くて leaves the sentence hanging open, a soft way to explain a problem and let the listener pick it up. Swap in other words: 頭の調子が悪くて "my head's been off".
🇯🇵 In Japan: Opening this way invites the pharmacist to ask follow-up questions rather than you demanding a specific product, which is how most people start these conversations at a Japanese drugstore counter.
Phrase Breakdown
胃の調子が
i no choushi ga
my stomach's condition
胃の調子 (i no choushi) means 'stomach condition'. が marks the subject.
胃の調子がいいです。
My stomach feels good.
Words in this phrase
胃
i
[ee]
stomach
The internal organ that digests food.
胃が痛いです。
My stomach hurts.
の
no
[noh]
of
A linking particle connecting nouns, like 'of' or showing description.
前の方が見やすいです。
The front area is easier to see from.
調子
choushi
[CHOH-shee]
condition; state
How well something or someone is working or feeling.
今日は体の調子がいい。
I feel in good shape today.
が
ga
[ga]
subject marker
A particle marking the subject of the sentence.
興味がある分野を教えてください。
Please tell me the field you are interested in.
悪くて。
waruku te
is bad, so...
悪い (warui) means 'bad'. The て form leaves the sentence open, which softly explains your situation.
体調が悪くて。
I'm not feeling well, so...
Words in this phrase
悪く
waruku
[wah-ROO-koo]
bad (adverbial/te-stem)
Form of 悪い 'bad' used before て to connect or give a reason.
気分が悪くて休みました。
I felt bad, so I rested.
て
te
[teh]
te-form ending
This ending connects actions, like 'cut and...' in instructions.
てをつけると、つぎのどうさにつなげられます。
When you add -te, you can connect it to the next action.
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