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yasumi no hi ha uti de yukkuri yasumimasu.

休やすみ　の　日ひ　は　うち　で　ゆっくり　休やすみます。yasumi no hi ha uti de yukkuri yasumimasu.
On my days off, I relax at home.
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Questions & Answers about yasumi no hi ha uti de yukkuri yasumimasu.

Why does 休み appear twice? Is that a mistake or redundant?

It’s not a mistake; the two 休みs are different parts of speech.

  • 休み (yasumi) before の is a noun meaning “holiday / day off.”
  • 休みます (yasumimasu) at the end is a verb in polite form meaning “to rest / to take a break / to have time off.”

So the structure is:

  • 休み の 日 = “day of rest” → “day off”
  • 休みます = “(I) rest / relax / take it easy”

Literally: “As for days off, at home, I rest slowly (leisurely).”

What is the の doing in 休み の 日?

の is linking two nouns: 休み (rest / holiday) and 日 (day).

This pattern Noun A + の + Noun B often means “B that is related to A” or “B of A.”

So:

  • 休み の 日 = “day of rest / holiday day” → “day off”
  • Similar examples:
    • 日本 の 本 = “book of Japan” → “Japanese book”
    • 学生 の 本 = “student’s book”

Here, の is not “’s” in a strict possessive sense, but a general linker.

Why is there a は after 日? Is 休みの日は the subject?

は marks the topic, not the grammatical subject in a strict sense.

  • 休み の 日 は = “As for (my) days off,” / “On my days off,”

In Japanese, time expressions often come with は to set the scene:

  • 朝 は コーヒーを飲みます。
    “In the morning, I drink coffee.”

So 休みの日は introduces the time frame (“on days off”) as the topic.
The sentence is really: [On days off] (I) rest at home. The “I” is understood from context and not said.

Why is it うち で and not うち に? What does で mean here?

で marks the place where an action happens:

  • うち で 休みます。 = “I rest at home.”

Compare:

  • で → where an action takes place
    • 学校で勉強します。 = “I study at school.”
  • に → where something exists / where you go to
    • うちにいます。 = “I am at home.”
    • うちに帰ります。 = “I go/return home.”

Here, 休みます is an action (resting, taking it easy), so you use うちで.

What exactly does ゆっくり mean here? Literally “slowly”?

ゆっくり literally can mean “slowly,” but in daily life it often means:

  • “leisurely”
  • “unhurriedly”
  • “to relax / to take it easy”

In this sentence:

  • ゆっくり 休みます = “I rest/relax slowly and leisurely” → “I relax,” “I take it easy.”

So the natural translation is more like:

“On my days off, I relax at home,”
not
“On my days off, I rest slowly at home.”

Why is 休みます in the polite form (-ます)? Could I say 休む instead?

休みます is the polite (ます) form of the verb 休む.

  • 休む = dictionary/plain form
  • 休みます = polite form

Which you use depends on who you’re talking to:

  • To friends/family (casual):
    • 休みの日は うちで ゆっくり 休む。
  • To teachers, bosses, strangers, in writing exercises etc. (polite):
    • 休みの日は うちで ゆっくり 休みます。

The sentence you have is the polite version, which is the default style in textbooks.

Does 休み の 日 mean one day off or days off in general?

Japanese often doesn’t mark singular/plural the way English does. 休みの日 can mean:

  • “my day off” (a particular one)
  • “my days off” (in general, whenever I have a day off)

Which one is meant depends on context. In many textbook examples like this, it’s understood as a general habit:

  • “On my days off, I relax at home.”
What’s the difference between うち and いえ (家)? Why is うち used here?

Both can be written 家, but they feel different:

  • うち

    • More like “home,” “one’s own place,” including the feeling of “my space.”
    • Can imply “with my family / in my household.”
    • Very common in casual speech.

  • いえ

    • More like “house” as a building.
    • Slightly more neutral/structural.

In うちでゆっくり休みます, the nuance is “I relax at home,” not just “in the house building.” いえで would be grammatically OK but feels less natural in this everyday “relax at home” context.

Could I say 休みの時は instead of 休みの日は? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

  • 休みの時は うちで ゆっくり 休みます。

時 (とき) = “time / when,” so:

  • 休みの時 = “when (I’m) off / when I have time off”
  • 休みの日 = “day off / holiday day”

Nuance:

  • 休みの日 focuses on a whole day that is a day off.
  • 休みの時 is a bit broader: any time you’re off, which could be days, hours, etc.

In practice, both are often translated “when I have a day off,” but 休みの日 feels more like “on my day(s) off.”

Can I leave out some parts like うち or ゆっくり? How flexible is the word order?

You can omit or tweak some parts, and the meaning just changes slightly:

  1. Omit ゆっくり:

    • 休みの日は うちで 休みます。
      “On my days off, I rest at home.” (No emphasis on “leisurely.”)

  2. Omit うちで:

    • 休みの日は ゆっくり 休みます。
      “On my days off, I rest/relax.” (Place not specified.)

Word order is fairly fixed in chunks, but you can move the adverb ゆっくり a bit:

  • 休みの日は うちで ゆっくり 休みます。
  • 休みの日は ゆっくり うちで 休みます。

Both are understandable. The first is more natural; the second gives a tiny bit more emphasis to うちで (“it’s at home that I relax”). The verb 休みます must stay at the end.