Real Life II: Weather, Health and People
Three situations you cannot avoid in Japan: chatting about the weather, explaining that something hurts, and answering "what do you do?". This chapter gives you the set phrases for all three — almost all of them practised directly in the game.
Why weather talk matters
In Japan, the weather is the universal conversation opener — the equivalent of "how are you?". A simple いい天気ですね ("nice weather, isn't it?") starts conversations with neighbours, shopkeepers and colleagues alike. The expected reply is agreement: そうですね.
Listen: windy but sunny
Weather small-talk at the farm — 天気 phrases with native audio.
Yennifer今朝、風は強いですね
kesa, kaze wa tsuyoi desu ne
This morning the wind is strong
Yennifer天気はとても悪いですね
tenki wa totemo warui desu ne
The weather is very bad
Yennifer雲もたくさんあります
kumo mo takusan arimasu
There are also many clouds
Muriほら！雲に問題がありますか？
Hora! Kumo ni mondai ga arimasuka?
Hey! Do you have a problem with clouds?
Listen: describing symptoms
At the hospital — saying where it hurts, for real.
Bolinうーん、風邪ですね
ūn, kaze desu ne
Uhm, it's a cold
Bolin頭も痛いですか？
atama mo itai desu ka?
Does you head hurt too?
Muriいいえ、頭痛がありません
īe, zutsū ga arimasen
No, I don't have a headache
Bolinそうですか？
sō desu ka?
Oh, is that so?
Talking about the weather
Ask about the weather with 天気はどうですか ("how's the weather?") and answer with a weather word + です. The lesson at the farm drills this exchange with native audio.
今日の天気はどうですか。
kyō no tenki wa dō desu ka.
How is the weather today?
晴れです。
hare desu.
It's clear.
雨ですが、風が強いです。
ame desu ga, kaze ga tsuyoi desu.
It's raining, and the wind is strong.
が between sentences means "but/and" — a soft connector you'll hear constantly.
いい天気ですね。
ii tenki desu ne.
Nice weather, isn't it?
ね at the end invites agreement — the social glue of Japanese conversation.
Saying where it hurts: 〜が痛いです
To describe pain, name the body part, add が, and finish with 痛いです ("hurts"). 痛い is an い-adjective, so everything you learned in chapter 14 applies — 痛かったです for "it hurt (yesterday)". For general unwellness, use 気分が悪いです ("I feel unwell").
頭が痛いです。
atama ga itai desu.
My head hurts.
のどが痛いです。
nodo ga itai desu.
My throat hurts.
昨日からおなかが痛いです。
kinō kara onaka ga itai desu.
My stomach has hurt since yesterday.
から ("from/since") + a time word tells the doctor when it started.
A body-parts primer
The N5 body-part set is small — these eight cover most clinic visits:
| Japanese | Reading | English |
|---|---|---|
| 頭 | atama | head |
| のど | nodo | throat |
| おなか | onaka | stomach |
| 歯 | ha | tooth |
| 目 | me | eye |
| 耳 | mimi | ear |
| 手 | te | hand |
| 足 | ashi | foot / leg |
At the doctor: どうしましたか and taking medicine
The doctor's first question is どうしましたか — "what happened / what's wrong?". Answer with your symptom sentence. And note a famous quirk: in Japanese you drink medicine — 薬を飲む, even for tablets.
どうしましたか。
dō shimashita ka.
What seems to be the problem?
かぜをひきました。
kaze o hikimashita.
I caught a cold.
Set phrase: かぜをひく = to catch a cold. Not the same かぜ as wind — context (and kanji 風邪 vs 風) tells them apart.
一日に三回、薬を飲んでください。
ichinichi ni sankai, kusuri o nonde kudasai.
Please take the medicine three times a day.
〜てください from chapter 12, plus the times-per-day pattern 一日に三回.
Jobs and roles: お仕事は何ですか
Ask someone's job with お仕事は何ですか — the polite お in front of 仕事 softens the question. Answer with the chapter-4 pattern: [job]です. The street lesson also covers social roles — who's a customer, who's staff — which decides the politeness everyone uses.
お仕事は何ですか。
oshigoto wa nan desu ka.
What do you do (for work)?
医者です。
isha desu.
I'm a doctor.
兄は消防士です。
ani wa shōbōshi desu.
My older brother is a firefighter.
More practice in the game
Eight free lessons cover this chapter end to end — weather at the farm, symptoms at the beach and hospital, medicines, getting to the clinic, and social roles on the street.
Chapter vocabulary
Weather conditions, two ready-made weather questions, and the job words you'll hear most.
Tap ► to hear the native audio from the game, or tap a word to open its dictionary entry.
Masks, sniffles and the clinic
Wearing a mask when you have a cold is basic courtesy in Japan — it protects others, not you. Blowing your nose loudly in public, on the other hand, is frowned upon; people excuse themselves instead. At a clinic, bring your insurance card (保険証), take a numbered ticket, and expect the receptionist's first question to be exactly the grammar from this chapter: どうしましたか。
Test yourself
Eight questions on weather, health and people.
8 quick questions on this chapter.
Your score
Common questions
Quick answers about this chapter's grammar.
Why does Japanese use 飲む (drink) for taking medicine?
飲む covers anything you swallow without chewing, not just liquids. Tablets, capsules and powders are all 薬を飲む. Using 食べる for medicine sounds wrong to native speakers.
What's the difference between 天気 and 気温?
天気 (tenki) is the overall weather — sunny, rainy, cloudy. 気温 (kion) is the air temperature in degrees. Ask 天気はどうですか for conditions and 気温は何度ですか for the number.
Is it rude to ask someone's job in Japan?
Asked politely — お仕事は何ですか — it's a completely normal getting-to-know-you question, often among the first things exchanged with the business card. The polite お prefix matters; the blunt 仕事は？ is for friends.
What does ね at the end of a sentence do?
ね seeks agreement or shared feeling, like English "isn't it?" or "right?". いい天気ですね expects そうですね back. Its sibling よ asserts new information instead — telling, not asking.
Want more practice? Browse all free Japanese lessons or look words up in the Japanese dictionary.