Everyday expressions — learn them through core images – ShareDocs

たい tai たい is a hand reaching out of you A hand stretching forward out of your own chest. That hand only ever grows out of you. Japanese 5 uses

そうだ souda The two そうだ are one thing: "this isn't mine" You didn't verify it. You picked it off the surface with your eyes, or off the air with your ears, and you set it down exactly as you found it. Japanese 5 uses

ようだ youda ようだ isn't guessing — it's laying one sheet over another Two transparent sheets laid on top of each other: this one lines up with that one. Japanese

らしい rashii らしい holds hearsay and "so very spring" in one hand A smell drifting over from the other side. You didn't make it — that side gave it off. Japanese 5 uses

はず hazu はず isn't a guess — it's the sound of things clicking into place Two gear teeth locking together. Line up what you already know and it can only land here. Japanese 5 uses

つもり tsumori つもり is a picture that hangs only in your head A picture you painted in advance — hanging inside your head, not out in the world. Japanese 5 uses

べき beki べき isn't "have to" — it's a ruler held over the situation A straight ruler of right and wrong, held over the situation from above. Not your circumstances — what the ruler points at. Japanese 5 uses

かもしれない kamoshirenai かもしれない leaves the door open a crack A closed door pushed open just wide enough for a finger. Through that gap, another possibility can walk in. Japanese 5 uses

なければならない nakereba-naranai なければならない isn't long and hard — it's a road with one way left A fork where every branch is blocked except one. There is no way around. Japanese

てもいい temoii てもいい isn't permission — it's a sign that the door is open The door in front of you is standing open. Walk through and nothing bad happens. Japanese 5 uses

てはいけない tewaikenai てはいけない isn't "forbidden" — it's a bar dropping across the door A bar slams down across the door that was open. This way through is closed. Japanese

get up ɡet ʌp Even the wind gets up — one picture behind every use Something lying or sitting low pushes itself upright and rises. English 5 uses

だろう darou だろう isn't a guess — it's a ball rolled toward the other person Instead of nailing your sentence down, you roll a ball gently toward the person across from you. Japanese 5 uses

get over ɡet ˈoʊvər A cold, a breakup, a fence — all the same hill A hill stands in your way; you climb it and come down on the other side. English 5 uses

です/ます desu / masu です/ます is not politeness — it is a uniform your sentences put on A bare sentence slipping on a uniform jacket, then standing straight with exactly one arm's length of air between you and the other person. Japanese

take off teɪk ɔːf Shoes, planes and prices all come off the same way Something attached comes away from the surface it was stuck to — and once free, it may soar. English 5 uses

いらっしゃる irassharu Why one verb, いらっしゃる, swallows be, come and go A platform one step higher than your own floor, laid down for the other person: everything they do — sitting, arriving, walking — is drawn only on that platform. Japanese 5 uses

put off pʊt ɔːf Push it back far enough and even your appetite goes A hand shoves what is right in front of you back and away from now. English 5 uses

put up with pʊt ʌp wɪð Not 'tolerate' — holding a weight over your head You hold something heavy up on raised arms and refuse to set it down. English 5 uses

ございます gozaimasu ございます is not "there is" — it is the sound of a bow Your own goods and your own circumstances held out on an open palm, below the other person's eye level, while your back curves into a bow. Japanese

손 son Why a Korean task can "take a lot of hand" The end of you that reaches out and actually touches the world. Nothing moves until this part lands on it. Korean 5 uses

눈 nun In "her eyes are high," there are no eyes A window that lets the world in. A clear window sees well; a window hung high is hard to satisfy. Korean

〜ていただく te itadaku ていただく is not a request — it is lifting what someone did up to your forehead Taking what the other person did into both hands and raising it to the height of your own head. いただく literally means to receive something onto your head. Japanese

look after lʊk ˈæftər Care is just never taking your eyes off it Your eyes trail whatever is moving ahead of you; the moment they drop, the care stops. English 5 uses

look into lʊk ˈɪntuː Look at is the lid; look into is what's under it You lift the lid of a closed box and push your gaze down inside it. English 5 uses

마음 ma-eum Why Koreans "eat" a decision A bowl set inside your chest. What enters it, and what you swallow into it, is what you become. Korean

〜させていただく sasete itadaku Why you say "I receive" about something you yourself do Before the thing you intend to do, you knock once, take the permission that comes back into both hands, and only then step forward. Japanese 5 uses

길 gil "There's no other road" — with no road in it A single line running from here to there. Follow the line and you arrive; break it and you can't. Korean

おっしゃる ossharu Their words go on the high shelf, yours go on the floor Words coming out of the other person's mouth, caught in both hands and set on a shelf one level above where your own words sit. Japanese 5 uses

run out of rʌn aʊt əv Milk, time and patience all hit the same empty bottom What was inside the container drains out until the bare bottom is showing. English 5 uses

召し上がる meshiagaru The word that raises the table under someone's meal The other person's eating and drinking lifted, plate and all, onto a table one step higher than yours — the word literally says "it rises" (上がる). Japanese 5 uses

자리 ja-ri One empty square that is both a seat and a job title A square left empty so that something fits exactly into it. Empty, and a slot opens; filled, and you've settled in. Korean

break down breɪk daʊn A car, a negotiation and a person all collapse the same way Something holding itself upright cracks apart and sinks down to the ground. English 5 uses

拝見する haiken suru Same "look", but only your own eyes drop a level Holding someone else's thing in both hands, head bowed, your eyes brought down below the object to look into it. Japanese 5 uses

bring up brɪŋ ʌp Raising a child and raising a subject are the same lift Something out of sight below is lifted up into full view. English 5 uses

말 mal Why Koreans say words become seeds A lump that leaves your mouth and crosses over to someone else. Once it lands, you can't take it back — and it starts working. Korean 5 uses

come across kʌm əˈkrɔːs Why bumping into something and seeming cold are one word Unsought, something crosses over from the far side and lands right in front of you. English 5 uses

伺う ukagau Why ask, hear and visit are all one verb Taking half a step toward the other person, tilting your head, and offering your ear and your foot forward together. Japanese 5 uses

일 il Why a job and an incident are the same Korean word A lump dropped in front of you that won't clear until you deal with it. Dropped daily, it's a job; dropped suddenly, it's an incident. Korean 5 uses

때 ttae "When the time comes" — what time is that? A stretch snipped out of flowing time. Not a mark on a clock but the span a thing lies across. Korean

申す mōsu The word that sets your own speech on the floor at their feet Your words and your name placed carefully on the floor in front of the other person's feet, and then a step back. Japanese

work out wɜːrk aʊt Keep working it and the answer comes out You keep kneading and turning a tangled lump until what was inside comes out of it. English 5 uses

힘 him Why "힘들다" means hard, not heavy A push from inside the body toward the outside. Let it out and things move; let it drain and you can't move at all. Korean

存じる zonjiru The word that folds your own knowing small before handing it over What you know folded down small and offered low in front of the other person, while their knowledge stays sitting up on top of their head. Japanese 5 uses

give up ɡɪv ʌp The hand opens — why you give up smoking and give up your seat Fingers that were gripping hard open, and what they held slips away. English 5 uses

なさる nasaru The word that slides a pedestal under someone's する A pedestal slid under whatever the other person does, lifting it one level, with you looking up at it from below. Japanese 5 uses

put on pʊt ɑːn Laid on top — why music and body weight are both put on Something that wasn't there is laid onto a surface and stays sitting there. English 5 uses

물 mul What it means to "take on the company's water" Something that seeps into whatever it touches and dyes it its own color. Once it soaks in, not just the surface changes. Korean

くださる kudasaru The 下 inside ください is not decoration — things come down Something crossing down from above into your open palm. The giving side is high, the receiving side low. Japanese

take on teɪk ɑːn Lifted onto your own shoulders — the picture inside take on Something outside you is lifted onto your own shoulders, and from now on you carry it. English 5 uses

불 bul Why a fire on your foot means you're out of time Something that spreads by itself the moment it catches. From that moment, time is chasing you. Korean 5 uses

いたす itasu The word that brings your own doing down to knee height Doing your own work from a position below the other person's eye line, knees bent. The task is unchanged — only your body goes down. Japanese 5 uses

turn out tɜːrn aʊt The inside rotates into view — turn out A face that was hidden inside rotates until it is out in front of you. English 5 uses

바람 ba-ram Korean puts wind into tires — and into people An unseen flow that fills things from inside and sweeps past, shaking whatever it touches. Korean

come up with kʌm ʌp wɪð A hand surfacing with something in it — come up with A hand that went down out of sight surfaces holding something and holds it out. English 5 uses

앞 ap In Korean the future is ahead, never behind The direction you have turned your body to face. Whatever is over there arrives at you first. Korean

뒤 dwi "The back of it is complicated" — and there's no back alley The side your back is turned to. Your eyes can't reach it, so it comes later, stays unseen, and never shows on the surface. Korean 5 uses

get along ɡet əˈlɔːŋ Moving on down the road — get along Two people keep walking forward on the same road without bumping into each other. English 5 uses

안 an Where exactly is the room inside "within a week"? Draw a boundary line, then point only at what falls inside it. Whatever is outside the line is not the subject. Korean

look forward to lʊk ˈfɔːrwərd tuː Eyes fixed up the road — look forward to You lean forward with your eyes fastened on something coming toward you up the road. English 5 uses