腹が減る

Japanese

Kanji in this term
腹	減
はら Grade: 6	へ Grade: 5
kun’yomi

Etymology

Phrase composed of 腹 (hara, “belly, stomach”) +‎ が (ga, subject particle) +‎ 減る (heru, “decreases, shrinks”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ha̠ɾa̠ ɡa̠ he̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Verb

腹(はら)が減(へ)る • (hara ga heru) godan (stem 腹(はら)が減(へ)り (hara ga heri), past 腹(はら)が減(へ)った (hara ga hetta))

1. (idiomatic) to get hungry
   • 1905–06, Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat (text here):

     腹(はら)が非常(ひじょう)に減(へ)って来(き)た。

     Hara ga hijō ni hette kita.

     I started to get extremely hungry.

Usage notes

The phrase hara ga heru is generally considered somewhat more informal than the synonymous phrase お腹(なか)が空(す)く (onaka ga suku). When in mixed company, the polite perfective form onaka ga sukimashita may be heard more often.

This phenomenon may be somewhat similar to the convention in some English-speaking communities of avoiding direct discussion of body parts. The term hara means “belly, stomach”, whereas the term onaka refers more indirectly to one's “insides”.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "腹が減る" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	腹が減ら	はらがへら	hara ga hera
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	腹が減り	はらがへり	hara ga heri
Shūshikei ("terminal")	腹が減る	はらがへる	hara ga heru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	腹が減る	はらがへる	hara ga heru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	腹が減れ	はらがへれ	hara ga here
Meireikei ("imperative")	腹が減れ	はらがへれ	hara ga here
Key constructions
Passive	腹が減られる	はらがへられる	hara ga herareru
Causative	腹が減らせる 腹が減らす	はらがへらせる はらがへらす	hara ga heraseru hara ga herasu
Potential	腹が減れる	はらがへれる	hara ga hereru
Volitional	腹が減ろう	はらがへろう	hara ga herō
Negative	腹が減らない	はらがへらない	hara ga heranai
Negative continuative	腹が減らず	はらがへらず	hara ga herazu
Formal	腹が減ります	はらがへります	hara ga herimasu
Perfective	腹が減った	はらがへった	hara ga hetta
Conjunctive	腹が減って	はらがへって	hara ga hette
Hypothetical conditional	腹が減れば	はらがへれば	hara ga hereba

Idioms

• 腹(はら)が減(へ)っては戦(いくさ)ができぬ (hara ga hette wa ikusa ga dekinu): “one cannot do battle on an empty belly”

Synonyms

• 御中(おなか)が空(す)く (onaka ga suku): one's insides become empty → to get hungry
• 御中(おなか)が減(へ)る (onaka ga heru): one's insides shrink → to get hungry
• 腹(はら)が空(す)く (hara ga suku): one's belly becomes empty → to get hungry