Nuance & Usage
薬 means medicine or medication in general. Key verbs used with 薬: 飲む (nomu — to take/drink medicine — pills and liquid), 塗る (nuru — to apply — ointments), 点す (さす — to put in eye drops). Note that Japanese uses 飲む (to drink) for pills, unlike English where you "take" medicine. Compound words: 薬局 (yakkyoku — pharmacy), 薬剤師 (yakuzaishi — pharmacist), 飲み薬 (nomigusuri — oral medicine).
Common Mistakes
The verb to use with 薬 for pills and oral medicine is 飲む (nomu — to drink), not 食べる (taberu — to eat) or 取る (toru — to take). So: 薬を飲む (take medicine) is correct. Using 食べる is a common error. Also, 薬 can sometimes colloquially refer to illegal drugs in context, but in standard usage it means medicine.
Example Sentences (3)
この薬を一日三回飲んでください。
このくすりをいちにちさんかいのんでください。
Please take this medicine three times a day.
頭が痛いので薬を飲みました。
あたまがいたいのでくすりをのみました。
I took medicine because I had a headache.
薬局で薬を買ってきてもらえますか？
やっきょくでくすりをかってきてもらえますか？
Could you get some medicine from the pharmacy for me?
Quick Quiz
Quick Quiz
N54 questionsTest your knowledge of 薬 with 4 different question types.
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