haguki ga haremashita.

My gums swelled.

Breakdown of haguki ga haremashita.

• が: subject particle
• 歯茎はぐき: the gums
• 腫はれる: to swell

Questions & Answers about haguki ga haremashita.

How do you read 歯茎?

It is usually read はぐき.

• 歯 = tooth
• 茎 = stem/stalk in other contexts, but in 歯茎, the whole word means gums

So:

• 歯茎 → はぐき → gums

You will also often see it written as 歯ぐき, with one kanji and one hiragana, because 茎 is a less common kanji for many learners.

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Why is there a が after 歯茎?

が marks 歯茎 as the thing that underwent the change or state described by the verb.

In 歯茎が腫れました, the gums are the thing that swelled.

So the structure is basically:

• 歯茎 = gums
• が = subject marker
• 腫れました = swelled / became swollen

A natural English translation may use my gums as the subject, but Japanese often just states the body part directly.

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Why が and not は?