「このかわいさ、たまらないでしょ？」
= Kono kawaisa, tamaranai desho?
= I am irresistibly cute, right?
「先生、レッスンの時間ですよ。」
= Sensei, ressun no jikan desu yo.
= Sensei, it’s time for the lesson, you know.
「今、眠くてたまらないから後でね。」
= Ima, nemukute tamaranai kara ato dene.
= I am extremely sleepy now. Will do that later.
Hi! I am your guest teacher, San-chan! はじめまして！ = Hajimemashite! = Nice to meet you!
I will teach you how to use たまらない ( = tamaranai ).
1) To express one’s uncontrollable strong emotion: dying to do something / to want to do something badly / keen to do ~ / eager to do ~
★ V + たくて ( = takute) + たまらない ( = tamaranai)
(Note: *V= verb)
☆How to form:
(1) dictionary form:
* する ( = suru) = to do
* 食べます ( = tabemasu) = to eat
* 来る ( = kuru) = to come
(2) make masu-form
→します ( = shimasu)
→食べます ( = tabemasu)
→来ます ( = kimasu)
(3) delete ます ( = masu)
→し ( = shi)
→食べ ( = tabe)
→来 ( = ki)
(4) add たい ( = tai)
→したい ( = shitai) = want to do (expressing one’s desire)
→食べたい ( = tabetai) = want to eat
→来たい ( = kitai ) = want to come
(5) make te-form of V たい ( = tai):
→ したくて ( = shitakute)
→食べたくて ( = tabetakute)
→ 来たくて ( = kitakute)
(6) add たまらない ( = tamaranai):
→ したくてたまらない ( = shitakute tamaranai) to be dying to do something
→食べたくてたまらない ( = tabetakute tamaranai ) to be dying to eat
→来たくてたまらない ( = kitakute tamaranai) to be dying to come
☆How to use:
When you express your desire you say V たい ( = tai), right?
Ex.会いたい = aitai = want to see someone
When your emotion is uncontrollable, you use V たくてたまらない ( = V takute tamaranai)
会いたくてたまらない = aitakute tamaranai = dying to see someone.
It is much stronger than V たい ( = V tai):
Ex. あそこのパンケーキが食べたくてたまらない。
= Asoko no pankeeki ga tabetakute tamaranai.
= I am dying to eat those pancakes.
Ex. 彼の声が聞きたくてたまらなかった。
= Kare no koe ga kikitakute tamaranakatta.
= I was dying to hear his voice.
Ex. 試験の結果が知りたくてたまらない。
= Shiken no kekka ga shiritakute tamaranai.
= I really want to know the result of the exam.
Ex. マギーに会いたくてたまらない。
= Maggie ni aitakute tamaranai.
= I am dying to see Maggie.
2) to describe some extreme situation or condition, to express uncontrollable feelings.
★ adjective + たまらない ( = tamaranai)
☆ How to form:
make te-form and add たまらない ( = tamaranai)
* i-adjective:
* 寒い ( = samui) cold:
→ te-form: 寒くて ( = samukute) + たまらない ( = tamaranai)
→ 寒くてたまらない ( = samukute tamaranai ) can’t stand the cold
* na-adjective:
* 不安な ( = fuan na ) uneasy
→ te-form: 不安で ( = fuan de) + たまらない ( = tamaranai)
→ 不安でたまらない ( = fuan de tamaranai) extremely worry about ~
☆How to use:
*You use this form to express some extreme situation / uncontrollable physical condition.
The picture above:
「先生、レッスンの時間ですよ。」
= Sensei, ressun no jikan desu yo.
= Sensei, it’s time for the lesson, you know.
「今、眠くてたまらないから後でね。」
= Ima, nemukute tamaranai kara ato dene.
= I am extremely sleepy now, so I’ll do that later.
Ex. 暑くてたまらない。
= Asukute tamaranai.
= I cannot tolerate this heat.
Ex. 虫歯が痛くてたまらなかったので歯医者に行ってきた。
= Mushiba ga itakute tamaranakatta node haisha ni itte kita.
= My tooth hurt so much that I went to the dentist.
*to express one’s uncontrollable feelings
Ex. X-Japanのコンサートに行けるなんて嬉しくてたまらない。
= X-Japan no konsaato ni ikeru nante ureshikute tamaranai.
= I am extremely happy that I could get to go to the X-Japan concert.
Ex. SMAPが解散してしまったなんて残念でたまりません。
= SMAP ga kaisan shite shimatta nante zannen de tamarimasen.
= It’s a shame that SMAP broke up. （I can’t help but feel disappointed.)
Ex. あんな弱いチームに負けてしまい、悔しくてたまらない。
= Anna yowai chiimu ni makete shimai, kuyashikute tamaranai.
= Losing to such a weak team is so frustrating.
Ex. もう彼に会えないと思うと悲しくてたまらない。
= Mou kare ni aenai to omou to kanashikute tamaranai.
= It is heartbreaking that I won’t be able to see him anymore.
Ex. 夜、一人でいると寂しくてたまらなくなることがある。
= Yoru, hitori de iru to sabishikute tamaranaku naru koto ga aru.
= Sometimes I can’t help feeling lonely when I am alone at night.
Ex. おかしくてたまらない。
= Okashikute tamaranai.
= I can’t help laughing. / It’s extremely funny.
Ex. 彼女のことが好きでたまらない。
= Kanojo no koto ga suki de tamarani.
= I’m crazy about her.
*******
It only works with limited verbs but you also use a verb to expresses one’s uncontrollable feelings or physical conditions
★ V て ( = te) + たまらない ( = tamaranai)
☆How to form:
Verb te-form + たまらない ( = tamaranai)
Ex. お腹が減ってたまらない。
= Onaka ga hette tamaranai.
= I am extremely hungry.
Ex. 腹が立ってたまらない。
= Hara ga tatte tamaranai.
= I can’t contain my anger.
Ex. 新車が欲しくてたまらない。
= Shinsha ga hoshikute tamaranai.
= I am dying for a new car.
Note: V てたまらない ( = te tamaranai) can be replaced with
* V てしかた（仕方）がない ( = V te shikata ga nai)
* V てしかた（仕方）ない ( = V te shikatanai )
* (casual) V てしょうがない ( = V te shouga nai)
* 腹が立ってしかたない。
= Hara ga tatte shikatanai.
= I can’t contain my anger.
Ex. 新車が欲しくてしかたがない。
= Shinsha ga hoshikute tamaranai.
= I am dying for a new car.
The difference: V てたまらない ( = te tamaranai) expresses more emotion.
3) Other usages:
★ Subject + は ( = wa) + たまらない ( = tamaranai)
たまらない ( = tamaranai) can be positive or negative depending on the context.
positive
1) great, out of this world, the best, absolutely wonderful
negative
2) something unbearable, something that you can’t stand
For example:
(negative)
Ex. こんな生活（は）、もうたまらない！
= Konna seikatsu (wa) , mou tamaranai!
= I can’t stand this life anymore.
or
(positive)
Ex. こんないい生活（は）、たまらないね。
= Konna ii seikatsu (wa), tamaranai ne.
= This is a great life! I love this life.
When you drink a cold beer in a hot day, you say:
たまらないね。 (positive)
= Tamaranai ne.
= That hits the spot!
Imagine your boss keeps giving you lots of work when you are about to leave the office. You might feel like this:
もう、たまらない！！(negative)
= Mou, tamaranai!!
= I can’t stand it anymore!!
Let’s look at some more example sentences.
*extremely good, irresistible, out of this world (positive)
Ex. 仕事の後のビールはたまらない。
= Shigoto no ato no biiru wa tamaranai.
= A beer after work really hits the spot.
Ex. 彼女の笑顔はたまらない。
= Kanojo no egao wa tamaranai.
= Her smile is killing me./ I love her smile.
:maggie-small: Look at the picture above.
「このかわいさ、たまらないでしょ？」
= Kono kawaisa, tamaranai desho?
= I am irresistibly cute, right?
You would say:
Ex. もうたまらないぐらいかわいい！！ !heart3!
= Mou tamaranai gurai kawaii!
= You are incredibly cute.
* unbearable, intolerable/ can’t stand / can’t bear / can’t take it / painful (negative)
Ex. 夏の満員電車での通勤はたまらない。
= Natsu no man-in densha deno tsuukin wa tamaranai.
= I can’t stand commuting in crowded trains in the summer.
Ex. 彼にスッピンの顔を見られてはたまらない。
= Kare ni suppin no kao wo mirarete wa tamaranai.
= I can’t stand him seeing my face without makeup.
Ex. そんなことやられたらたまったもんじゃない。(casual)
= Sonna koto yararetara tamatta monjanai.
= I can’t let them do such a thing.
Note: たまったものではない ( = tamatta mono dewa nai)
→(casual contraction) たまったもんじゃない ( = tamatta mon ja nai)
★ たまらなく ( = tamaranaku) + adjective : extremely ~
Ex. この季節の富士山は、たまらなく美しい。
= Kono kisetsu no fujiwsan wa, tamaranaku utsukushii.
= Mt. Fuji is incredibly beautiful at this time of year.
Ex. 彼に才能を認めてもらったことが、たまらなく嬉しい。
= Kare ni sainou wo mitomete moratta koto ga, tamaranaku ureshii.
= I am extremely happy that he recognized my talents.
Ex. 空腹で食べるラーメンはたまらなく美味しい。
= Kuufuku de taberu raamen wa tamaranaku oishii.
= The ramen that you eat when you are hungry is incredibly delicious.
Ex. 夏休み前の１週間はたまらなく忙しい。
= Natsuyasumi mae no isshuukan wa tamaranaku isogashii.
= I am extremely busy a week before the summer vacation.
★ たまらなく ( = tamaranaku) + verb: (emphasizing the verb ) / to want to do something badly
You can modify a verb with たまらなく ( = tamaranaku) as well.
Ex. あの時計がたまらなく欲しい。
= Ano tokei ga tamaranaku hoshii.
= I’m dying to get that watch.
( = あの時計が欲しくてたまらない = ano tokei ga hoshiku te tamaranai)
Ex. アイスクリームがたまらなく食べたい。
= Aisukuriimu ga tamaranaku tabetai.
= I have a craving for ice cream.
( = アイスクリームが食べたくてたまらない= Aisukuriimu ga tabetakute tamaranai)
Ex. 彼がたまらなく恋しい。
= Kare ga tamaranaku koishii.
= I miss him terribly.
( = 彼が恋しくてたまらない = kare ga koishikute tamaranai)
★ たまるか ( = tamaru ka) ・たまりますか ( = tamarimasu ka) ・たまるもんか ( = tamaru monka) ・たまるもんですか ( = tamaru mon desu ka)
When you express your strong will or strongly deny something: I will not let it happen/ There is no way ~
Ex. あんなやつに、負けてたまるか。
= Anna yatsu ni, makete tamaru ka.
= There is no way that that guy will beat me.
(I am not going to lose.)
You can also say:
あんなやつに、負けてたまるもんか。
= Anna yatsu ni, makete tamaru mon ka.
Note: もんか ( = monka) adds strong emotion.
If you want to learn more about it, check this lesson.
Ex. あなたに私の気持ちがわかってたまるもんですか。
= Anata ni watashi no kimochi ga wakatte tamaru mon desuka.
= There is no way that you will understand how I feel.
Ex. 泣いてたまるか。
= Naite tamaru ka.
= I will not cry.
Ex. 一度、失敗したからと言って、諦めてたまりますか。
= Ichido, shippai shita kara to itte, akiramete tamarimasu ka.
= I will not give up just because I failed once.
*****
マギー先生より = Maggie Sensei yori = From Maggie Sensei
サンちゃん先生、ありがとう！ = San-chan Sensei arigatou! = Thank you, San-chan sensei!
犬の生活はたまらなく楽しいですね。
= Inu no seikatsu wa tamaranaku tanoshii desune.
= A dog’s life is irresistibly fun, isn’t it?
****
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48 Comments
Sensei
In this paragraph
あの有名な詩中（註、ウォーヅウォースの「弥生に書かれたる」と題する短詩。）の羊の群とは違って、四十人の子供が一人のように振舞うのではなく、各一人の子供が四十人のように活動するのだから溜まらない。従ってその結果は信じられないほどの賑やかさであった。
たまらない is like helping the sentence at the end to emphasise that the children were being very noisy, therefore, it was INTOLERABLE?
Would it sound different if たまらない had not been written?
よろしくお願い致します
As you said, たまらない emphasize 賑やかさ. “intolerable” may sound a bit too negative in this case. How about “They were out of control”
Sorry Maggie sensei for so many questions !
I am learning the 2 phrases, てならない and てたまらない.
After going through examples of each of them, I feel that てならない only uses to show your feeling, not physical condition. While てたまらない can be used for physical condition also.
But….you know I ‘m not sure of my thinking :))
Could you help me this?
To be more specific, can we use あつくてならない？
Good question. Though there are people who say 暑くてならない, 暑くてたまらない is much more common.
Thank you Maggie sensei a lot!
I still can not stop thinking of you every day ….
My pleasure💕
Maggie sensei,
Is the usage of たまるか same as っこない?
Ex:
あなたに私の気持ちがわかってたまるもんですか。
= あなたに私の気持ちがわかっこない
Are those interchangeable?
Thanks Maggie sensei as always
Of course it also depends on how you deliver the phrase but in my opinion
あなたに私の気持ちがわかってたまるもんですか。 sounds stronger than あなたに私の気持ちがわかっこない
Thanks for your answer Maggie.
The lesson is great. Very easy to remember.
I’ve study for 2 hours, and nearly I can remember this grammar :)))
You’ve been studying for two hours? Wow!! 頭を休めてね。
Hi Maggie sensei,
For the last usage, do you have to put tamaranai in the -te form? Can you just use the plain form?
Hi Dennis
The last usage ~てたまるか, right?
Yes, you use Vて＋たまるか
When you use たまらない as an adjective, you can use the plain form.
Ex. plain form + の＋は＋たまらない/ conditional たら+ たまらない, etc.
こんな暑い日にアイスクリームを食べるのはたまらない。
ビールを飲んで野球を見るのはたまらない。
そんなこと言われたらたまらない
Thanks, I get it now. I just mixed myself up with so many usages of たまる. So when I say たまるか (NOT たまらない), I have to use the -te form for the verb.
Thanks very much for the example sentences. I just want to ask about the last example
– そんなこと言われたらたまらない
It means “After such a thing was said to me, I couldn’t stand it”. (Perhaps what was said was really mean.)
Am I right?
================================
Oh… I just have one last thing to ask… hope I am not being too fussy. I also read your lesson about というと.
You used this example sentence above – 一度、失敗したからと言って、諦めてたまりますか。
It took me a while to fully understand this sentence, but I believe the “と言って” in this sentence is basically explained in your というと lesson, right? If that is the case, then I think I get how it all works… Is it common to see this grammar used like that?
Hi Dennis,
Sorry. I should have added the note for the last example sentence.
そんなこと言われたらたまらない
could be positive or negative.
Either “I couldn’t stand it”(negative) or “I would be thrilled (It would be so nice)” (positive)
~からといって means “though” “even if/even though”
I don’t think if I’ve ever covered that here..(sorry. I made many lessons so..) but
（だ）からといって + contradicted fact
Ex. 日曜日だからといって休んでいることはできない。
= Though it is Sunday, I can’t just rest.
Thanks for the explanation, Maggie-sensei!
You’re very welcome, Dennis! :)
Hi Maggie Sensei, i have a question,
what is the difference between these two sentences?
あなたに私の気持ちがわかってたまるもんですか
and
私の気持ちは、あなたにはわかりはしない
I see little diference, but i want your advise
Thanks in advance.
Great site.
＠Rey
They both mean “There is no way that you would understand how I feel” but たまるもんですか expresses stronger feelings.
It depends on the context but when you use わかりはしない, it sounds like you have already given up.
I see, thank you very much.
I have another question, not of this leason by the way.
What mean the particule へと?
Like in this sentence:
黒い天使は、その漆黒の翼を大きく広げて、そら空へと舞い上がる
I have seen it in another sentence but can’t get the meaning very well.
Again thank you very much.
@Rey
The meaning of へと is “towards (the sky) ”
へ indicates the directions
You add と→へと to make it sound more literal.
So there’s no chance on meaning.
Thank you very much.
@Rey
Right and you’re welcome! :)
いつも通り、分かりやすいレッスンを作ってありがとう！たくさんの例文を読むのがたまらなく楽しんだ！
次のレッスンを読みたくてたまらないわ～ \(^v^)/
@Sophie
楽しんでもらえてよかった！！またがんばって新しいレッスン作りますね。
I would like to download the audio fragments in order to make a wonderful compilation of phrases. They’re so useful and your voice is so clear and beautiful, is that possible? Thank you for this wonderful site
@claudia
Hi Claudia, Thank you for visiting this site!
I am not sure if you can download the audio fragments from this site right now…
But I will record more phrases and think about the ways to download the sound files somehow. :)
今までありがとうございました。
レッスンはいつも助けてくれるね。
頑張って！
@Michaela
レッスンがお役になってよかったです。
これからもまたきてね。
Hello, マギー先生！私が中国人です。
It’s my first time to read this blog, I think it’s awesome! It can teach me lots of command used of Japanese so I love this blog so much!
Hope you–マギー先生,can post more blogs about japanese lessons!
I will follow this blog, 頑張ります！
＠せんき
你好！ このサイトへようこそ！ Welcome to my site!
日本語（にほんご）の勉強（べんきょう）、これからもがんばってくださいね。私もがんばってレッスンをつくります。
先生、you are amazing! Your lessons are really good and easy to understand. Even I could clatify the things that I could not understand in my Japanese classes nor at school.
Thank you so much 先生。
And another thing I should say, your web site is really cool♡ because there are pets ♡ i love them
＠ヘヨン
Thank you for your nice comment!
I’m glad to hear my lesson help you clarify things.
We are lucky to have many cute guest teachers!! 😉
Hello Maggie Sensei!
Sorry this isn’t related to this lesson, but I have a general translation question I would like your help with!
So I’m trying to translate this song (full lyrics here: http://vocaloidlyrics.wikia.com/wiki/%E5%8F%8D%E8%8A%BB%E3%81%AE%E5%8D%B0%E8%B1%A1_(Hansuu_no_Inshou) )
and I came across this line:寝台列車も星と日付と共倒れ
What I could get out of it was: “Even the sleeper car falls together with the stars and the date.”
That doesn’t really make sense; I was wondering if “As the stars fall, and the date changes, the sleeper car falls out of use” would be correct for that. It seems a bit too interpretive to me, but it was the only thing that made sense to me.
What would you think is most likely the intended meaning of that phrase?
Thank you!
＠Holly Werb
The literal meaning is your first translation. “Even the sleeper car falls together with the stars and the date.”
But your interpretation is correct. :)
Okay, I wasn’t sure if my interpretation was stretching too far.
Thanks for your help! :)
You’re welcome! ❤️
I have another question on the same song, if you don’t mind.
I was torn between interpretations of this lyric:
看守が微笑む偶然を寝そべり待ちぼうけ
Lying on the ground, I wait in vain for the chance (for/when) the jailer smiles.
Lying on the ground, I wait in vain for the jailer to smile by chance/coincidentally.
For my first interpretation, I’m not sure if the person is waiting for the jailer to smile, as in their chance/opportunity is in itself the jailer smiling, or if they are waiting for a chance when the jailer smiles, like they want to do something and they think their best bet is the moment he smiles.
Yet I found in examples that 偶然 almost always means simply “by chance;” yet it definitely seems like 看守が微笑む is the attributive phrase and 偶然 is being used completely as a noun here; but I found almost no examples of its usage as a noun, which really threw me.
Anyways, which one of the three options do you think it is? Or is it none of those and I’m just totally wrong? (Hopefully not!)
Thank you, again, for your help!
＠Holly Werb
You can’t find any examples because you don’t say 偶然を待ちぼうけ It is another original expression.
The person is waiting for the chance when the jailer smiles. So the first interpretation is right.
Okay, I was wondering why I wasn’t seeing any examples. Thank you!
You’re welcome! :)
Hello Maggie Sensei!
I have yet another question, if you don’t mind, on the same song. This song is proving very hard to translate! O~O
本当は思ってなんかいやしない
Literally, this would be something like “In truth, I thought and something did not (emphatically) exist. ” That, of course, makes no sense, but I’m unsure as to what it really means.
Possibly – “In reality, what we had thought of didn’t exist.” Or maybe “Really, we did not think (with なんか being an example of tmesis – though I’m not sure if that exists in Japanese)” Though I don’t think it’s either of those…
Anyways, thank you so much for helping me again!
@Holly Werb
Hello,
~なんていやしない is a casual way to negate something strongly. It means the same as “思ってなんていない。”
It means
The person is not really thinks so.
Hello! The answer might be here already, but I was wondering why it’s 眠くてたまらない and not 眠たくてたまらない? I thought it was Verb + たくて?
Thanks for your help! This site is great.
@Steven
Hi Steven
Good question. You can say both, 眠くてたまらない and 眠たくてたまらない
* 眠る = nemuru = verb = to sleep
There are two adjective forms
1) 眠い=ねむい= sleepy
and
2) 眠たい= ねむたい= sleepy
＋たまらない form
1) 眠くてたらまない
２） 眠たくてたまらない
Maggie sensei 今日は
I would like to be informed if there is any good synonym dictionary in japanese that you recommand (I mean online)
Thanks for your answer in advance
Yours
@Horváth Róbert
こんにちは、Róbert!
Someone else was asking me the same question on FB but I don’t know if there is one in English.
It’s all in Japanese but how about http://thesaurus.weblio.jp/
このサイトのレッスンはいつもたまらなく便利です！
＠アンディ
わあ、完璧（かんぺき）な「たまらなく」の使い方ですね！
ありがとう、アンディ❤️