Native speakers say “itai” to mean ‘painful’, ‘sore’, or ‘hurt’ in Japanese. Basically it is an i-adjective, but can also work as an interjection, especially in speaking, to mean ‘ouch’ in Japanese. In this blog post, I will explain this word with its major conjugations. And also, I will explain how to use them through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to use “itai” properly. Then, let’s get started!

Let me start with the definition and meanings of “itai”.

The definition and meanings are simple and clear, I think. Basically this is an i-adjective, but native speakers often use it as an interjection to say “ouch” in Japanese. It’s worth knowing.

Then, let me explain how to use “itai” through the example sentence below.

me ga itai – 目が痛い (めがいたい)

My eyes are sore.

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

This is a typical usage of “itai”. When we want to say “sore” in Japanese, this is a very good option. In this example, it works as a complement in more or less the same way as “sore” does. So, Japanese learners, especially those who are familiar with English, can easily understand how it works, I think.

In the rest part of this blog post, I will explain major conjugations of “itai” which native speakers often use. The first one is “itakunai”.

Below are the definition and meanings of “itakunai”.

Grammatically, “itakunai” consists of the following two parts:

From these two components, we can understand that “itakunai” is literally the nai form of “itai” and means ‘not painful’, ‘not sore’, or ‘not hurt’ in Japanese. Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentence below.

mabuta wa itakunai – 瞼は痛くない (まぶたはいたくない)

My eyelids are not sore.

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

This is a typical usage of “itakunai”. When we want to say “not sore” in Japanese, this nai form is a good option. Native speakers actually use it very conveniently to mean “not sore”.

Below are the definition and meanings of “itakatta”.

Grammatically, “itakatta” consists of the following two parts:

From these two components, we can understand that “itakatta” is literally the ta form of “itai”. In Japanese, ta forms of words can work as their past tense forms. So, we can say “itakatta” to mean ‘was painful’, ‘was sore’, or ‘was hurt’ in Japanese. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.

kinou mo me ga itakatta – 昨日も目が痛かった (きのうもめがいたかった)

My eyes were sore yesterday, too.

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

This is a typical usage of “itakatta”. This is very helpful when we want to use the past tense form of “itai”.

Below are the definition and meanings of “itakute”.

Grammatically, “itakute” consists of the following two parts:

From these two components, we can understand that “itakute” is literally the te form of “itai”. In Japanese, te forms of words have some important roles. One of them is make smooth connections of words. Actually, “itakute” is very useful when we want to use “itai” before another adjective or a verb with a smooth connection. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.

me ga itakute akai – 目が痛くて赤い (めがいたくてあかい)

My eyes are sore and red.

Below is the new word used in the example sentence.

This is a typical usage of “itakute”. In the example, it has the smooth connection with “akai”. Like this, when we want to use “itai” before another adjective, its te form is very useful.

Lastly, let me explain the definition and meanings of “itakereba”.

Grammatically, “itakereba” consists of the following two parts:

From these two components, we can understand that “itakereba” is literally the ba form of “itai”. In Japanese, ba forms of words can work as their conditional forms. So, “itakereba” is very useful when we want to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘painful’, ‘sore’, or ‘hurt’. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.

me ga itakereba megusuri wo tsukat te kudasai – 目が痛ければ目薬を使ってください (めがいたければめぐすりをつかってください)

If your eyes are sore, please use eye drops.

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

This is a typical usage of “itakereba”. In this example, it works as a part of the conditional clause, “me ga itakereba”, which means ‘if your eyes are sore’ in Japanese. When we want to make a conditional clause in a sentence with the meaning of ‘painful’, ‘sore’, or ‘hurt’ in Japanese, this ba form is useful.

In this blog post, I’ve explained “itai” and its major conjugations. And also, I’ve explained how to use them through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.

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