A1 Idiom Neutre

手を焼く

te o yaku

Have trouble with/Be at a loss

Phrase in 30 Seconds

Use {手を焼く|てをやく} when you are struggling to manage a difficult person or a persistent problem.

  • Means: To be troubled by someone or something that is hard to handle.
  • Used in: Describing unruly children, difficult coworkers, or complex technical bugs.
  • Don't confuse: It is not about physical burns; it is purely figurative.
Person + Fire + Hands = Frustration

Explanation at your level:

This phrase means you are having a hard time with someone or something. You use it when a person or a job is very difficult to control.
Use '手を焼く' to describe a situation where you are struggling to manage a difficult person or a persistent problem. It implies you have tried many things but the situation remains hard to handle.
This idiom describes the state of being overwhelmed by a task or person. It is commonly used in professional settings to explain why a project is delayed or why a specific individual is difficult to supervise.
The phrase functions as a metaphorical expression for the inability to easily resolve a problematic situation. It conveys a sense of persistent effort met with resistance, often used when discussing interpersonal dynamics or complex project management.
From a cognitive linguistic perspective, '手を焼く' maps the physical sensation of thermal pain onto the abstract domain of social or task-based management. It highlights the speaker's lack of agency in controlling the outcome of a difficult interaction.
This idiom serves as a pragmatic marker of frustration within the Japanese social hierarchy. By utilizing this phrase, the speaker frames their struggle as a result of external factors, thereby maintaining face while acknowledging the difficulty of the situation. It is a quintessential example of how Japanese utilizes somatic metaphors to articulate complex psychological states.

Signification

To struggle with a difficult person or situation.

🌍

Contexte culturel

Japanese society values patience. Using this phrase is a way to express that you are being patient despite the difficulty. In Western cultures, 'having your hands full' is often used to excuse yourself from additional work.

🎯

Use with 'ni'

Always remember to use the particle 'ni' to point to the person or thing causing the trouble.

Signification

To struggle with a difficult person or situation.

🎯

Use with 'ni'

Always remember to use the particle 'ni' to point to the person or thing causing the trouble.

Teste-toi

Fill in the blank with the correct particle.

彼は新しい部下___手を焼いている。

✓ Correct ! ✗ Pas tout à fait. Rponse correcte : に

The target of the struggle is marked with 'ni'.

🎉 Score : /1

Aides visuelles

Questions fréquentes

1 questions

Yes, but be careful. It implies your boss is difficult to manage.

Expressions liées

🔄

手こずる

synonym

To have a hard time

🔗

お手上げ

similar

To give up

Où l'utiliser

💻

Office Project

Tanaka: この新しいソフト、使い方が難しくて手を焼いているよ。

Sato: ああ、私も同じだよ。

neutral
👶

Parenting

Mother: うちの子、最近反抗期で本当に手を焼くわ。

informal

Memorize It

Mnemonic

Imagine holding a hot potato; you can't drop it, but it hurts to hold it.

Visual Association

A manager holding a flaming document while trying to type.

Story

Kenji is a teacher. He has one student who never listens. Kenji tries to explain the lesson, but the student keeps talking. Kenji sighs, 'I am really struggling with this student.' He is '手を焼いている'.

Word Web

手焼く苦労大変管理困る

Défi

Write three sentences about things that make you struggle.

In Other Languages

Spanish high

Tener las manos llenas

Japanese focuses on the 'burning' (struggle), while Spanish focuses on the 'fullness' (capacity).

French moderate

Avoir du fil à retordre

Japanese is somatic (body-based), French is craft-based.

German high

Alle Hände voll zu tun haben

German emphasizes the volume of work, Japanese emphasizes the difficulty of the person/task.

Japanese high

手こずる

手を焼く is more emotional/frustrated; 手こずる is more about time-consuming difficulty.

Arabic moderate

أشغل يدي

Arabic is more about being busy; Japanese is about being troubled.

Easily Confused

手を焼く vs 手を出す

Learners confuse 'hands' idioms.

手を出す means to get involved or start something.

FAQ (1)

Yes, but be careful. It implies your boss is difficult to manage.

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