kanozyo ha tyuusya wo iyagatte ita keredo, kangosisan ga yasasiku hanasite kurete otituita.

It comes from the verb 嫌がる.

• 嫌 = dislike / unpleasant
• がる = to show signs of a feeling, or to act as if one feels that way
• 嫌がる = to show dislike, to be reluctant, to resist, to act like you don’t want something

Then:

• 嫌がっている = is showing reluctance / is resisting
• 嫌がっていた = was showing reluctance / was resisting

So here, 嫌がっていた does not just mean she disliked the injection in an abstract sense. It suggests that she was visibly reacting to it — for example, looking scared, pulling away, or not wanting it.

This is a very common learner question.

• 嫌い is a noun/na-adjective meaning disliked
• 嫌だ means I don’t like it / I hate it / no way
• 嫌がる means to show that someone dislikes something

A key difference is that 嫌がる is often used when talking about another person’s feelings as observed from the outside.

For example:

• 彼女は注射が嫌いだ。
  = She dislikes injections.
  This states her preference more generally.

• 彼女は注射を嫌がっていた。
  = She was acting like she really didn’t want the injection.
  This focuses on her behavior in that moment.

So 嫌がっていた fits well because the sentence is describing a situation: she was resisting or dreading the injection before calming down.

Because 嫌がる behaves like a verb that can take a direct object.

So:

• 注射を嫌がる = to be reluctant about the injection / to resist the injection

This is different from:

• 注射が嫌い = injections are disliked
• 注射が嫌だ = the injection is unpleasant / I don’t want the injection

So the particle changes depending on the expression:

• 嫌い and 嫌だ often use が
• 嫌がる often uses を

That is why 注射を嫌がっていた is natural here.

けれど connects two parts of the sentence and means something like:

• but
• though
• although

Here it shows contrast:

• She was resisting the injection,
• but the nurse spoke kindly to her,
• and then she calmed down.

Compared with でも, けれど often sounds smoother and more connected inside one sentence.

Both can be possible in different contexts, but が is very natural here because it identifies the person who performed the helpful action.

• 看護師さんが優しく話してくれて
  = it was the nurse who kindly spoke to her

Using が often highlights the subject of that clause.

If you used は, it could sound more like you were setting up the nurse as a broader topic for comparison or discussion. In this sentence, が fits the flow better because the nurse is being introduced as the one who changed the situation.

This is 話してくれる, in the -te form.

• 話す = to speak
• 話してくれる = to speak for someone’s benefit / kindly speak to someone

The verb くれる adds the nuance that the action was done in a way the speaker views as helpful, kind, or appreciated.

So 看護師さんが優しく話してくれて is not just:

• the nurse spoke kindly

It also carries a feeling like:

• the nurse kindly spoke to her, and that was helpful
• the nurse was nice enough to talk to her gently

So くれて adds warmth and appreciation.

It is not stated directly, but from context it is most naturally understood as 彼女.

So the idea is:

• the nurse spoke kindly to her
• and that helped her calm down

Japanese often leaves out things that are clear from context, especially pronouns and indirect objects. Because the sentence is about her emotional state, the listener naturally understands that the nurse’s gentle words were directed toward her.

Because 優しい is an i-adjective, and when an i-adjective modifies a verb, it changes to its adverb form.

• 優しい = kind, gentle
• 優しく = kindly, gently

So:

• 優しい看護師さん = a kind nurse
• 優しく話す = to speak kindly / gently

In this sentence, 優しく modifies 話してくれて.

It is understood to be 彼女.

Even though 看護師さん is the subject of the middle part of the sentence, the overall topic at the start is 彼女は, and the meaning of the sentence shows that she is the one who calmed down.

So the structure is basically:

• 彼女は 注射を嫌がっていたけれど、
• 看護師さんが 優しく話してくれて、
• 彼女は 落ち着いた

The second 彼女は is omitted because Japanese often leaves out repeated subjects when they are clear.

落ち着く can mean:

• to calm down
• to settle down
• to become composed

In this sentence, it means that her emotional state changed. She was upset or resistant at first, and after the nurse spoke kindly, she became calmer.

So it is not about physically sitting still only; it is mainly about becoming emotionally settled.

Because Japanese very often omits information that is easy to infer from context.

Here, the sentence is about:

1. her resisting the injection
2. the nurse speaking kindly
3. her calming down

So the most natural interpretation is that the nurse spoke kindly to her. Since that is obvious from the flow, Japanese does not need to say it directly.

If someone wanted to say it more explicitly, they could say something like:

• 看護師さんが彼女に優しく話してくれて

But in normal Japanese, leaving out 彼女に is completely natural.

Adding さん after a profession is a polite and natural way to refer to someone respectfully.

So:

• 看護師 = nurse
• 看護師さん = the nurse, with polite/respectful tone

Japanese often uses さん with roles or occupations in everyday speech:

• お医者さん = doctor
• 店員さん = store clerk
• 運転手さん = driver

So 看護師さん sounds warm and natural, especially in a real-life situation like a clinic or hospital.

It describes one specific situation in the past.

The clues are:

• 嫌がっていた = she was resisting
• 話してくれて = the nurse spoke kindly
• 落ち着いた = then she calmed down

This creates a sequence of events in a particular moment. It does not sound like a general statement such as she usually hates injections. It sounds like a scene the speaker is describing.