JLPT N3: だらけ (full of; covered in)

Nice, easy grammar point to cover today.

NOUN ＋ だらけ
＝ full of NOUNS; covered in NOUNS

In this lesson, we'll see:

穴だらけ
あな　だらけ
full of holes
Literally: “holes + だらけ”

血だらけ
ち　だらけ
covered in blood
Literally: “blood + だらけ”

糞だらけ
ふん　だらけ
covered in poop.
Literally: “poop + だらけ”

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Here's a full-sentence example:

あの人はいつも穴だらけのセーターを着ている。
あの　ひと　は　いつも　あな　だらけ　の　セーター　を　きている。
That guy is always wearing a sweater that's full of holes. // She is always wearing sweaters that are full of holes.
Literally: “that + person + は + always + holes + だらけ + の + sweater + を + is wearing.”

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🍜 Culture Quiz 🍜

If you look up だらけ in Google Images, what will the pictures in the search results be "full of"?
(A) Cats
(B) Doraemon
(C) Mud
(D) Girls in bikinis
(E) Shoes
(F) Crabs
(G) Santas

As always, I'll give you some...

💀💀 Thinking Space 💀💀

💀💀 Thinking Space 💀💀

💀💀 Thinking Space 💀💀

💀💀 Thinking Space 💀💀

💀💀 Thinking Space 💀💀

💀💀 Thinking Space 💀💀

💀💀 Thinking Space 💀💀

And the answer is: All of the above.

Yeah, a trick question:

This is why our moms think it's weird that we like Japan.

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Another example:

血だらけになって帰ってきた僕を見て、お母さんは気を失った。
ち　だらけ　に　なって　かえってきた　ぼく　を　みて、　おかあさん　は　き　を　うしなった。
When I came home and my mom saw me covered in blood, she fainted.
Literally: “blood + だらけ + に + become (and) + return home (and) + came + I + を + see (and), + mother + は + fainted (=気 + を + lost).”

Once when I was teaching English to a group of students in Tokyo, I used the word "fainted," and a student asked what it meant. He didn't understand my explanation, so I said that it meant 気絶した (きぜつした // "fainting + did"). A woman in the class then told me that I should say 気を失った (きをうしなった), that it was more common.

I took her word for it, as that's usually the best course of action―say what Japanese people say!

But I think both of these words are interesting. So 気 is your spirit, your energy, your life force, your thing-I-hate-translating.

If you "lose" (失) your 気, you faint. Similarly, if your 気 gets "cut off" or "discontinued" (絶), you faint. Kanji nerds unite!

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レストランで食事を済ませて駐車場に戻ったら、車が鳥の糞だらけになっていた。
レストラン　で　しょくじ　を　すませて　ちゅうしゃじょう　に　もどったら、　くるま　が　とり　の　ふん　だらけ　に　なっていた。
I finished eating at the restaurant and went back to the parking lot to find my car covered in bird poop.
Literally: “restaurant + で + meal + を + finish (and) + parking lot + に + when (I) returned, + car + が + bird + の + poop + だらけ + に + was becoming.”

I was being positive about kanji before, but I don't feel too positive about 糞 (ふん // poop).

This kanji intimidates me: 糞.

Sometimes I see 糞 on signs telling you not to let your dog poop somewhere, but usually I see フン:

↑ That photo is from this site, which has lots of pictures of signs talking about dog poop in Japanese. It's like your dream come true.

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Back to だらけ.

You may have noticed something that the NOUNS in our list all have in common: They are undesirable things.

Clothes full of holes. People covered in blood. Cars covered in poop.

The grammar books that I have at home only list undesirable things before だらけ, and they write that this is how you're supposed to use だらけ.

There's just one problem with that explanation: I hear people using だらけ for NOUNS that are not necessarily undesirable things.

For example, you might hear someone say:

東京はどこを歩いてもコンビニだらけですね。
とうきょう　は　どこ　を　あるいても　コンビニ　だらけ　です　ね。
Anywhere you walk in Tokyo, there are convenience stores everywhere, huh?
Literally: “Tokyo + は + where + を + even if (you) walk + convenience store + だらけ + です + ね.”

Take that, grammar books!