hiza ga itai toki wa, muri ni hashiranai hou ga ii desu.

topic particle

Breakdown of hiza ga itai toki wa, muri ni hashiranai hou ga ii desu.

• です: to be
• が: subject particle
• いい: good

Questions & Answers about hiza ga itai toki wa, muri ni hashiranai hou ga ii desu.

Why is が used after ひざ?

ひざが痛い is a very common Japanese pattern for talking about body symptoms.

• ひざ = knee
• が marks the thing experiencing the condition
• 痛い = painful / hurts

So ひざが痛い literally means the knee hurts or my knee hurts.

With body parts and sensations, Japanese often uses が this way:

• 頭が痛い = my head hurts
• お腹が痛い = my stomach hurts
• 目がかゆい = my eyes are itchy

In English, we often say my knee hurts, but in Japanese the my is usually omitted when it is obvious from context.

Why is there no word for my in ひざが痛い?

Japanese often leaves out information that is clear from context. In a sentence about someone’s physical condition, ひざが痛い is naturally understood as my knee hurts, your knee hurts, or their knee hurts, depending on the situation.

For example:

• At the doctor: ひざが痛いです usually means my knee hurts
• Giving advice to someone: ひざが痛いときは… can mean when your knee hurts...

This omission is very normal in Japanese and does not sound incomplete.

What does ときは mean here?