Learn Hardcore Japanese: kinou kara nodo ga itakute sukosi netu ga aru. - Since yesterday my throat hurts and I have a bit of a fever.

“Because / so” (reason):
- 仕事が忙しいから、行けません。
  → I can’t go because work is busy.
“From / since” (starting point in time or space):
- 東京から大阪まで。 → From Tokyo to Osaka.
- 昨日から熱がある。 → I’ve had a fever since yesterday.

In 昨日から喉が痛くて…, から is the second meaning:
→ “since yesterday”, not “because yesterday.”

Why is there no particle after 昨日から at the beginning of the sentence?

Time expressions often appear at the start of a sentence without any extra particle, especially in casual speech:

今日、雨が降っています。
明日、テストがあります。

Here, 昨日から is a time phrase (“since yesterday”). It’s acting like an adverbial expression (telling us when), so it doesn’t need another particle like は or に.

You could say 昨日からは in some contexts, but that would add contrast or emphasis, like “since yesterday (as opposed to before that),” which isn’t needed here.

Who is the subject here? Why is there no “I” in the Japanese sentence?

Japanese often omits the subject when it’s obvious from context.

昨日から喉が痛くて少し熱がある。
Literally: “Since yesterday, the throat hurts and there is a little fever.”

In real use, if you are talking about your own condition, the listener naturally understands:

→ “I’ve had a sore throat since yesterday and a slight fever.”

You can say 私は昨日から喉が痛くて…, but it usually sounds unnecessary unless you really need to emphasize who has the problem. In everyday conversation, just leaving out “I” is the most natural.

Why is が used with 喉 and 熱 instead of は?

が here is marking what is experiencing the condition:

喉が痛い。 → (My) throat hurts.
熱がある。 → (I) have a fever. (lit. “Fever exists.”)

Some basics:

が tends to mark:
- What is experiencing a feeling/condition: 頭が痛い, お腹がすいた
- Newly introduced or neutral information.
は tends to mark:
- The topic: “As for X…”
- Often something already known or being contrasted.

You could say:

喉は痛いけど、鼻は大丈夫。
→ As for my throat it hurts, but my nose is okay.

Here は sets up a contrast (throat vs nose).
In the original sentence, we’re just stating symptoms neutrally, so が is the natural choice.

What does the て-form in 痛くて do? Why not just 痛い?

痛い is an i-adjective meaning “painful / sore.”

To connect it to another clause, you change the final い to くて:

痛い → 痛くて

This て-form works like “and” or “and so” or “so / therefore” depending on context.

In your sentence:

喉が痛くて少し熱がある。
→ My throat hurts and I have a slight fever.
→ My throat hurts, and (on top of that) I have a slight fever.

Grammatically, the structure is:

喉が痛くて + 少し熱がある
(Clause 1, in て-form) + (Clause 2, main clause)

So 痛くて is not a separate word; it’s just 痛い in its linking form.

Why doesn’t the sentence end with です or だ?

This is casual speech. In casual style, it’s perfectly fine to end with:

熱がある。
喉が痛い。

No です or だ is required.

Polite style would be:

昨日から喉が痛くて少し熱があります。

Differences:

Casual: 喉が痛い。熱がある。
Polite: 喉が痛いです。熱があります。

When talking to friends/family, the casual version is natural.
With a doctor, teacher, or in formal situations, you use the polite one.

What exactly does 少し mean here? How is it different from ちょっと?

少し (すこし) literally means “a little / a small amount.”

In the sentence:

少し熱がある。
→ “I have a slight fever.” / “I have a bit of a fever.”

Nuance:

少し: neutral, can sound a bit more objective or formal.
ちょっと: very common in speech; can sound softer, sometimes more vague or euphemistic.

You could also say:

ちょっと熱がある。

Difference is small here; both mean “a bit of a fever.” In writing or when sounding slightly more formal, 少し fits well.

Why do you say 熱がある to mean “I have a fever”? Literally it looks like “heat exists.”

Literal breakdown:

熱 (ねつ) = fever / (body) heat
ある = to exist / to have (for inanimate things, states, etc.)

So 熱がある literally is:

“Fever exists.” → “I have a fever.”

Japanese often expresses “having” a condition or symptom with X がある / いる or X がする:

頭痛がある。→ I have a headache.
寒気がする。→ I feel chills.
咳が出る。→ I’m coughing. (coughs come out)

So 熱がある is the standard way to say “I have a fever.”
You do not normally say something like 私は熱です for “I have a fever” (that sounds like “I am fever”).

How do you pronounce 喉, and is it common to write it in kanji?

Pronunciation:

喉 is read のど (nodo).

About writing:

In everyday writing, you’ll often see it as のど in hiragana, especially in simple texts or for learners.
Using the kanji 喉 is also correct, but it’s a bit less common than writing のど, and some people might avoid it because it’s not a super-basic kanji.

So all of these are fine in practice:

のどが痛い。
喉が痛い。

Same pronunciation, same meaning.

If I want to say this politely to a doctor, how should I say it?

A natural polite version:

昨日から喉が痛くて、少し熱があります。
→ I’ve had a sore throat since yesterday, and I have a bit of a fever.

If you want to be even more explicitly humble/polite, you might add:

昨日から喉が痛くて、少し熱もあります。
(adding も to emphasize “I also have a slight fever.”)

Or you can start with:

昨日から体調が悪くて、喉が痛くて少し熱があります。
→ Since yesterday I’ve been feeling unwell: my throat hurts and I have a slight fever.

Why 喉が痛い and not 喉を痛い? I thought を marks the direct object.

In Japanese, many “to hurt / to be sore” expressions use が, because they describe a state of a body part, not an action being done to that part.

喉が痛い。→ My throat hurts.
頭が痛い。→ I have a headache.
歯が痛い。→ My tooth hurts.

Think of it as “[body part] is in a painful state”, so the body part is the subject/experiencer, marked by が.

You’d use を with verbs that act on the body part:

喉を痛めた。→ I injured/damaged my throat.
足を切った。→ I cut my leg.

So:

が + 痛い = “[part] hurts / is sore” (state)
を + 痛める = “hurt / damage [part]” (action)

Can I change the word order, like putting 少し熱がある first?

Yes, you have some flexibility. For example:

昨日から少し熱があって、喉が痛い。
昨日から少し熱があって、喉も痛い。

These are all natural. Nuance changes slightly:

喉が痛くて少し熱がある。
→ Focus starts with the sore throat, then adds “and I also have a slight fever.”
少し熱があって、喉が痛い。
→ Focus starts with the fever, then adds the sore throat.

Japanese allows fairly free word order as long as each phrase stays intact and the verb or final predicate comes at the end. The original order is simply one natural option among several.