kusuri o nondara, kaze wa naoru to omoimasu.

I think my cold will get better if I take medicine.

Breakdown of kusuri o nondara, kaze wa naoru to omoimasu.

• は: topic particle
• を: direct object particle
• 飲のむ: to drink
• と: quotative particle
• 思おもう: to think
• 〜たら: conditional form
• 薬くすり: medicine
• 風邪かぜ: cold
• 治なおる: to get better

Questions & Answers about kusuri o nondara, kaze wa naoru to omoimasu.

What does 薬を飲む mean? Do Japanese people really say “drink medicine” instead of “take medicine”?

Yes. 薬を飲む (くすりをのむ) literally means “to drink medicine.”

In English we usually say “take medicine,” but in Japanese:

• For liquid medicine you literally drink it.
• For pills / tablets / capsules, you still say 飲む, because you swallow them with water.

So:

• 水を飲む – to drink water
• コーヒーを飲む – to drink coffee
• 薬を飲む – to take medicine (by swallowing it)

Even though the literal meaning is “drink,” the natural English translation is “take medicine.”

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Why is there no I in the sentence? How do we know who is taking the medicine or whose cold it is?

Japanese often drops the subject when it’s clear from context.

In this sentence:

薬を飲んだら、風邪は治ると思います。

there is no explicit 私 (I) or 僕 (I), but from context (the speaker talking about themselves), it is usually understood as:

• (私は) 薬を飲んだら、(私の) 風邪は治ると思います。

Japanese relies heavily on context and the conversation so far. If it were clearly about someone else, you would often specify:

• 彼が薬を飲んだら、風邪は治ると思います。
  
  • I think his cold will get better if he takes medicine.

So the missing subject is not a grammar error; it’s normal and expected in Japanese.

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What exactly does 飲んだら mean, and how does the 〜たら form work here?

飲んだら is the たら-form (conditional) of 飲む.

• Dictionary form: 飲む – to drink / take (medicine)
• Past (た-form): 飲んだ
• Conditional: 飲んだら – if / when (I) take (medicine)

〜たら roughly means “when/if (something) has happened, then …”

In this sentence:

薬を飲んだら、風邪は治ると思います。

飲んだら = if I take medicine / when I take medicine

Subtle nuance:

• 飲んだら often has a feeling of “after doing X, then Y will happen” and can be used for both real situations and hypotheticals.

Compare:

• 薬を飲むと、風邪は治ります。
  
  • More like a general rule: Whenever you take medicine, your cold gets better.
• 薬を飲めば、風邪は治ると思います。
  
  • Similar meaning to 飲んだら, but 〜ば feels a bit more formal / written or slightly more logical/conditional.

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Why is 風邪 marked with は instead of が? What’s the difference between 風邪は治る and 風邪が治る?

Both are grammatically correct, but the nuance is different.

• 風邪が治る

  • Neutral subject marking: “The cold will get better.”
  • Just stating what will get better.

• 風邪は治る

  • は marks the topic: “As for the cold, it will get better.”
  • Often highlights contrast or focus: maybe other things won’t get better, but the cold will.

In this sentence:

薬を飲んだら、風邪は治ると思います。

Using は can imply, for example:

• The cold will get better (maybe other symptoms or problems won’t).
• Talking specifically about the cold as the topic of your opinion.

If you say:

薬を飲んだら、風邪が治ると思います。

it sounds like a more neutral “I think the cold will get better if I take medicine.” with less contrast. Both are natural; は just adds that topic/contrast nuance.

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What is the difference between 治る and 治す? Why is 治る used here?

治る (なおる) and 治す (なおす) are a classic intransitive / transitive verb pair:

• 治る – to get better / to heal (by itself)

  • The thing that is getting better is the subject.
  • 風邪が治る – The cold gets better / goes away.

• 治す – to cure / to heal (something)

  • Someone acts on something to fix it.
  • 風邪を治す – to cure a cold.

In the sentence:

風邪は治ると思います。

the focus is on the cold getting better as a result (not explicitly on you “curing” it), so the intransitive 治る is used.

If you wanted to emphasize actively curing it, you could say something like:

• 薬を飲んで、風邪を治したいです。
  
  • I want to cure my cold by taking medicine.

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What is the と in 治ると思います? Is it the same と as in the conditional 〜と (“if/when”)?

No, this と is not the conditional “if/when” と.

In 治ると思います, the と is the quotative particle, which marks what you think / say / feel / hear, etc.

Structure:

• [Clause] ＋ と ＋ 思います
  
  • “I think that [Clause].”

So:

• 風邪は治ると思います。
  
  • Literally: “I think that the cold will get better.”

This と is like the English word “that” in:

• “I think that it will get better.”

It’s a completely different function from the conditional AとB structure (“if A then B” / “whenever A, B”).

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Why use と思います? Could you just say 薬を飲んだら、風邪は治ります?

You can say:

薬を飲んだら、風邪は治ります。

Grammatically it’s fine. But there is a nuance difference.

• 治ります。
  
  • Sounds more like a statement of fact: “It will get better.”
• 治ると思います。
  
  • Soften the statement, present it as your opinion / prediction:
    “I think it will get better.”

In Japanese, it is common and polite to use 〜と思います to avoid sounding too direct or too certain, especially when talking about the future or something you can’t guarantee.

So 治ると思います is more natural in many real-life situations because you can’t be 100% sure.

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Why is it 治ると思います and not 治るだと思います? I thought だ is needed before と思います.

だ is used only in certain cases before と思います, mainly with nouns and na-adjectives in plain form.

• 学生だと思います。 – I think (they are) a student.
• 便利だと思います。 – I think it is convenient.

But with verbs and i-adjectives, you do not add だ:

• 行くと思います。 – I think (I) will go.
• 寒いと思います。 – I think it’s cold.
• 治ると思います。 – I think it will get better.

So 治るだと思います is incorrect. The correct form is 治ると思います.

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Could I say 薬を飲めば、風邪は治ると思います instead of 飲んだら? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

薬を飲めば、風邪は治ると思います。

Both 飲んだら and 飲めば express a condition (“if … then …”), but there are small nuance differences:

• 飲んだら (たら-form)

  • Often feels like “when/if you do X, then Y happens (after that)”
  • Very common in spoken Japanese.
  • Slightly more real / concrete or event-like.

• 飲めば (ば-form)

  • Feels a bit more logical / hypothetical: “if it is the case that you take medicine, then…”
  • Slightly more formal / bookish, though also used in speech.

In daily conversation, 薬を飲んだら、風邪は治ると思います。 is very natural.
薬を飲めば、風邪は治ると思います。 is also natural, just a bit more “conditional” in feeling.

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Can I change the word order, like 風邪は、薬を飲んだら治ると思います? Is that still correct?

Yes, that’s correct and natural.

• 薬を飲んだら、風邪は治ると思います。
• 風邪は、薬を飲んだら治ると思います。

Both are fine. Japanese word order is relatively flexible as long as:

1. The verb comes at the end of the sentence.
2. Particles (は, が, を, に, で, へ, と, etc.) clearly mark each word’s role.

Changing the order can slightly shift emphasis:

• Starting with 風邪は foregrounds “as for the cold” as the main topic right away.

But overall, both versions convey the same meaning.

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How do you read the kanji 薬, 風邪, and 治る in this sentence, and do they have other readings?

In this sentence, the readings are:

• 薬 – くすり (kusuri)

  • Common meaning: medicine / drug
  • Kanji readings:
    
    • くすり (kun-yomi) – as a standalone word (薬を飲む)
    • やく (on-yomi) – in compounds like 薬局 (やっきょく, pharmacy)

• 風邪 – かぜ (kaze)

  • Meaning: a cold (illness)
  • Note: The everyday reading is かぜ. The individual kanji also have:
    
    • 風 – かぜ / ふう (wind / style)
    • 邪 – じゃ (evil / bad)
  • But as a word for “cold (illness),” just remember 風邪 = かぜ.

• 治る – なおる (naoru)

  • Meaning: to get better / to heal
  • Kanji 治 also has:
    
    • なお(る)/なお(す) (kun-yomi) – to heal, to cure, to fix
    • ち / じ (on-yomi) – in words like 政治 (せいじ, politics), 治療 (ちりょう, medical treatment)

In this exact sentence, you should read it aloud as:

くすりを のんだら、 かぜは なおる と おもいます。

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Could this sentence ever mean “I think the medicine will cure the cold” in the sense that the medicine itself is the subject doing the curing?

Not with 治る as it is.

• 治る describes the cold getting better by itself (intransitive).
  
  • 風邪が治る – The cold gets better.

If you wanted to say that the medicine cures the cold (medicine doing the action), you would use the transitive verb 治す and make the medicine the subject:

• 薬が風邪を治すと思います。
  
  • I think the medicine cures the cold.

Your original sentence:

薬を飲んだら、風邪は治ると思います。

grammatically says:

• If (I) take medicine, the cold will get better (as a result).

The medicine is the means, but the cold is the thing that changes state.