病む To Get Sick

Meaning

Primary

To Get Sick

Alternatives

To Fall Ill, To Get Depressed

Word Type

godan verb, intransitive verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means sick, so the verb version is to get sick.

病む means to fall ill in more formal or literary contexts. In casual conversation, especially among younger people, 病む is used to describe someone feeling down, so this can also mean to get depressed.

Note that this word can be transitive and take a direct object, like 心を病む (to be mentally unwell), but can also be used intransitively without a direct object.

Reading

やむ

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

There is only one time you allow yourself to get sick, and that's when the Yankees (や) are playing. You can't miss any games so you just happen to fall ill whenever they're playing so you can stay home and watch. That's pretty convenient, isn't it?

Context

Common Word Combinations

• 〜が病む

  母が病む

  one's mother falls ill

  心が病む

  to become mentally ill

  自分が病む

  to fall ill

• 〜を病む

  心を病む

  to have mental illness

• 〜に病む

  気に病む

  to be anxious about something, to weigh heavily on one's mind

Context Sentences

この日が当たらないアパートに住んでたら、心が病むよ。

If you live in an apartment without sunlight, you would be mentally sick.

新しい会社のストレスで病みそうです。

I feel like I'm getting sick due to the stress of a new company.

だれだって病む事はあるんだから、出来るだけ他人に親切にしよう。

Everyone can get sick, so let's be kind to others as much as possible.

Kanji Composition

1. 病

   びょう Sick