VocabularyJLPT N5 · core

困る

こまる

hepburn komaru

to be in trouble, to be at a loss

Part of speech · godan-verb

Pattern visualization

no decomposition available

Examples

道に迷って困った。
I got lost and was in trouble.
お金がなくて困る。
I am in trouble for lack of money.

Collocations

困る (komaru, be troubled)困った (komatta, troubled past)困難 (konnan, difficulty)助ける (tasukeru, help)悩む (nayamu, worry)

Mnemonic

Komaru (困る) is the godan intransitive for "be troubled / be in difficulty / be at a loss." Kanji 困 = 囗 (enclosure) plus 木 (tree) = "a tree trapped inside a box." Multi-sense: (1) objective difficulty (okane ga nakute komaru, michi ni mayotte komaru); (2) emotional confusion (dou shitara ii ka wakaranakute komaru); (3) causative (hito wo komaraseru). Polite phrases: komari mashita, komatte masu (asking for help). Sibling verbs: nayamu (worry / internal conflict), mayou (hesitate / get lost), aseru (be impatient). Japan-specific idiom komatta toki no kami danomi (in trouble we turn to the gods) critiques those who rely on gods only when in trouble despite weak everyday faith. Korean gonranhada, Chinese weinan, English be troubled diverge. JLPT N5 komaru integrates with the kami-danomi idiom.

Quick check

Cultural critique of komatta toki no kami danomi?