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Learn Hardcore Japanese: kare ga ki no doku da to omotta. - I felt sorry for him.

Hardcore Japanese
/Going bowling with friends
/kare ga ki no doku da to omotta.

kare ga ki no doku da to omotta.

彼かれ　が　気き　の　毒どく　だ　と　思おもった。kare ga ki no doku da to omotta.

I felt sorry for him.

Breakdown of kare ga ki no doku da to omotta.

subject particle

quotative particle

思おもうomou

Questions & Answers about kare ga ki no doku da to omotta.

What does 気の毒 mean here? Is it literally something like poison of the spirit?

No. 気の毒（きのどく） is a fixed expression, and you should learn it as a whole.

In this sentence, 気の毒だ means something like:

pitiful
sad to see
deserving sympathy
I feel sorry for him

So 彼が気の毒だと思った means I thought he was pitiful or more naturally I felt sorry for him.

Even though the kanji are 気 + の + 毒, the expression is not understood by translating each part literally.

Why is there が after 彼 instead of は?

Here, 彼が is the subject of the idea being thought.

The structure is:

彼が気の毒だ = He is pitiful / I feel sorry for him
彼が気の毒だと = that he was pitiful / that I felt sorry for him
彼が気の毒だと思った = I thought that he was pitiful / I felt sorry for him

So が marks 彼 as the subject inside the clause before と思った.

If you used 彼は, it would sound different. は would mark him as the topic, which is possible in some contexts, but が is very natural when marking the subject of a thought or statement inside a quoted clause.

Nihon-shiki romanizationwatasi ha tyuugoku kara kimasita

Hepburn romanizationwatashi wa chuugoku kara kimashita

気き　の　毒どくki no doku

deserving sympathy; pitiable (polite)

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Why is there a だ before と?

Because 気の毒 behaves like a na-adjective / noun-like predicate, so when it appears in the plain form before と, it needs だ.

Compare:

静かだ → 静かだと思う
便利だ → 便利だと思う
気の毒だ → 気の毒だと思う

So the だ is not extra. It is the plain copula required to complete the predicate before と.

What is the role of と in this sentence?

と marks the content of what was thought.

So:

彼が気の毒だ = the thought/content
と思った = thought

Together:

彼が気の毒だと思った = thought that he was pitiful / felt sorry for him

This is the same と often used with verbs like:

言う = say
思う = think
知る = know
聞く = hear

It often works like English that, although in Japanese it is much more standard to include it.

Who is doing the thinking? I do not see I anywhere.

The thinker is omitted.

In Japanese, the subject is often left unstated when it is understood from context. So this sentence usually implies:

私は彼が気の毒だと思った。

But Japanese normally does not say 私は unless it needs to be emphasized or contrasted.

So the full sense is usually:

I thought he was pitiful
I felt sorry for him

Is 思った really just thought, or can it also mean felt here?

Yes, in natural English this often becomes felt.

A very literal translation is:

I thought he was pitiful

But a more natural translation in many contexts is:

I felt sorry for him

That is because 気の毒だと思った often expresses an emotional judgment, not just a cold mental opinion.

So depending on context, either translation may be best.

Is 気の毒 an adjective?

It is best treated as a na-adjective-like expression or a noun-like predicate that takes だ when used predicatively.

For example:

気の毒だ
気の毒な人
気の毒に思う

So it does not behave like an i-adjective such as かわいそう—actually, that comparison is useful, because かわいそう and 気の毒 are often similar in meaning, but their usage patterns are not always identical in every context.

For a learner, the safest approach is to memorize common patterns such as:

気の毒だ
気の毒な
気の毒に思う

How is 気の毒 different from かわいそう?

They are similar, and both can mean pitiful or poor thing.

But 気の毒 often has a slightly more formal, restrained, or sympathetic tone. It can also suggest unfortunate or regrettable.

Very roughly:

かわいそう = more everyday, emotional, common in conversation
気の毒 = a bit more formal or reserved, sometimes more like unfortunate or I feel sorry for...

In many situations, both could work, but the nuance may differ.

Why is the whole sentence in the past tense?

Because the final verb is 思った, the past form of 思う.

That means the act of thinking happened in the past.

So:

思う = think
思った = thought

The inner clause 彼が気の毒だ stays in the plain non-past form because it is the content of the thought. Japanese often does this in quoted/thought content.

So the timeline is:

At some point in the past, the speaker had the thought: 彼が気の毒だ.

Could this sentence mean He thought I was pitiful?

No, not as written.

The sentence says:

彼が = he is the subject of 気の毒だ
the omitted subject of 思った is someone else, usually I

So the basic reading is:

I thought he was pitiful
I felt sorry for him

If you wanted He thought I was pitiful, it would be more like:

彼は私が気の毒だと思った。

Even then, context can affect interpretation, but the original sentence does not naturally mean that.

How is this sentence pronounced?

It is pronounced:

かれがきのどくだとおもった。

A natural smooth reading is:

Kare ga kinodoku da to omotta.

Notes:

気の毒 = きのどく
思った = おもった
The と is a normal particle here, not emphasized

Can I translate this word-for-word into natural English?

Not very well.

A rough word-by-word breakdown is:

彼 = he
が = subject marker
気の毒だ = is pitiful / is unfortunate
と = that
思った = thought

But natural English usually prefers:

I felt sorry for him.
I thought he was pitiful.
I thought it was sad for him. depending on context

So this is a good example of a sentence where a direct word-for-word gloss is useful for grammar, but not always for natural translation.

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