Grammar › Emotion & Intensity
〜がる — showing outward signs of a feeling
Third-person feelings: 妹が寒がっている — my little sister seems to be cold
Feeling adjectives like 寒い (cold), 嬉しい (happy), or 怖い (scared) describe the speaker's own inner state by default. To describe someone else showing visible signs of that feeling, drop the adjective ending and add がる (usually as 〜がっている): 怖い → 怖がっている.
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| i-adjective stem + がる | 寒い → 寒がる — to act/seem cold |
| na-adjective stem + がる | 嫌 → 嫌がる — to act like one dislikes (something) |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 妹は注射を痛がっていた。 | いもうとはちゅうしゃをいたがっていた。 imoutohachuushawoitagatteita。 | My little sister seemed to be in pain from the shot. |
| 犬が雷を怖がっている。 | いぬがかみなりをこわがっている。 inugakaminariwokowagatteiru。 | The dog seems scared of the thunder. |
| 彼はその仕事を嫌がっている。 | かれはそのしごとをいやがっている。 karehasonoshigotowoiyagatteiru。 | He seems to dislike that job. |
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Watch out
がる is specifically for feelings visible from the outside — it's not a general third-person marker, so it only attaches to a small set of feeling adjectives, not to any adjective at all.