kono kuriimu ha te ni mo kao ni mo nureru.

Questions & Answers about kono kuriimu ha te ni mo kao ni mo nureru.

Why are there spaces between the Japanese words?

Those spaces are just for learners. Normal Japanese would be written as:

このクリームは手にも顔にもぬれる。
or, with kanji, このクリームは手にも顔にも塗れる。

Japanese normally does not put spaces between words the way English does.

Why is このクリーム followed by は?

は marks the topic.

So このクリームは means something like:

  • as for this cream
  • this cream, ...

The sentence is talking about what this cream is like or what can be done with it. Using は makes this cream the thing under discussion.

A version with が is also possible in some contexts, but は is very natural when describing a product’s feature.

What does に mean after 手 and 顔?

Here, に marks the place or target where the cream is applied.

So:

  • 手に塗る = apply it to the hands
  • 顔に塗る = apply it to the face

In this sentence, the cream is the topic, and 手 and 顔 are the body parts it can be used on.

Why is も used twice?

Because も attaches to each item separately.

So:

  • 手にも = also on the hands
  • 顔にも = also on the face

Together, 手にも顔にも means:

  • on the hands and also on the face
  • more naturally, on both the hands and the face

Repeating も is normal in this pattern.

What form is ぬれる?

It is the potential form of 塗る.

So 塗れる means:

  • can apply
  • can be put on
  • is applicable/useable on

In this sentence, it does not mean passive.
The passive of 塗る would be 塗られる.

Does 塗れる here mean physical possibility, or does it mean the cream is suitable for those areas?

It often means more than simple physical possibility.

With products like cream, medicine, or sunscreen, 塗れる commonly suggests:

  • it is okay to use there
  • it is suitable for that area
  • it can be applied there

So this kind of sentence can sound like product-label language: This cream can be used on both the hands and the face.

Who is doing the applying? The sentence does not say.

Japanese often leaves the doer unstated when it is obvious or unimportant.

Here, the focus is on the cream, not on the person using it. The meaning is basically:

  • someone can apply this cream to the hands and face
  • this cream is usable on the hands and face

It could mean you, one, or people in general.

Why are 手 and 顔 used without words like your or the?

Two reasons:

  1. Japanese has no articles like a or the.
  2. Japanese often omits possessives when the owner is obvious, especially with body parts.

So 手 and 顔 here naturally mean the user's hands and face, without needing to say your.

This is very common in Japanese.

Is 手 singular or plural here?

Japanese nouns usually do not show singular vs. plural clearly.

So 手 can mean:

  • hand
  • hands

In this sentence, English would normally say hands, because that sounds more natural for cream use.
Likewise, 顔 is just face here.

Could I say 手と顔にぬれる instead?

Yes, but the nuance changes a little.

  • 手と顔に塗れる = can be applied to the hands and face
  • 手にも顔にも塗れる = can be applied to the hands and also to the face / to both hands and face

The version with も gives a stronger also / both feeling. It is very natural when emphasizing that the cream works for more than one area.

Could this sentence also be written with クリームを somewhere?

Yes. A more directly action-focused sentence would be:

  • このクリームを手にも顔にも塗れる
  • 手にも顔にもこのクリームを塗れる

That means can apply this cream to both the hands and the face.

But the original sentence, このクリームは手にも顔にも塗れる, sounds more like describing a property of the cream itself, which is why it feels natural in product descriptions.

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“How do verb conjugations work in Japanese?”
Japanese verbs conjugate based on tense, politeness, and mood. For example, the polite present form adds ‑ます to the verb stem, while the past tense uses ‑ました. Unlike English, Japanese verbs don't change based on the subject — the same form works for "I", "you", and "they".

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