情Nuance and style
Strong feelings
Say a feeling is so strong you can hardly bear it, and use を in a surprising way to mark what moves you.
Making it
て form + たまらない
It's used for your own feelings, or those of someone you identify with. There's no positive たまる version.
| Type | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| い adjective | 暑くてたまらない | unbearably hot |
| な adjective | 不便でたまらない | terribly inconvenient |
| ~たい | 行きたくてたまらない | dying to go |
In use
Can't stand it
My back is unbearably itchy.
My tooth hurts like crazy.
I passed, and I'm thrilled.
It works for good feelings too.
I'm dying for a beer.
A close relative
~て仕方がない
I'm extremely worried.
More emotional.
I can't help being worried.
A bit calmer.
を for emotion
What's behind the feeling
It's mostly written style, usually with ている or the past. In speech, you'd more likely say ~ので, “because of”.
I'm happy about my friend's success.
This を marks the cause of the emotion.
They're grieving over the dog's death.
My father is worried about his daughter's marriage.
Grammar notes
Verbs from adjectives
Many emotion verbs come from adjectives, by adding む: 悲しい → 悲しむ, 楽しい → 楽しむ, 苦しい → 苦しむ. With these, を marks the thing that causes the feeling. For someone else's visible feeling, you can also use がる.
Check yourself
How strong is the feeling?
Your turn
くて or で?
It's unbearably hot every day.
Say it yourself
Heat wave
It's the hottest day of the year. Tell a friend it's unbearably hot, and you're dying for some cold beer.
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