喘ぐ
あえぐ
godan verb, intransitive
to gasp; to pant; to struggle
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 喘ぐ | 喘がない |
| Present polite | 喘ぎます | 喘ぎません |
| Past | 喘いだ | 喘がなかった |
| Past polite | 喘ぎました | 喘ぎませんでした |
| て form | 喘いで | 喘がなくて |
| ている present | 喘いでいる | 喘いでいない |
| ている polite | 喘いでいます | 喘いでいません |
| ている past | 喘いでいた | 喘いでいなかった |
| ている past polite | 喘いでいました | 喘いでいませんでした |
| Conditional ば | 喘げば | 喘がなければ |
| Conditional たら | 喘いだら | 喘がなかったら |
| Volitional | 喘ごう | — |
| Volitional polite | 喘ぎましょう | — |
| Potential | 喘げる | 喘げない |
| Passive | 喘がれる | 喘がれない |
| Causative | 喘がせる | 喘がせない |
| Imperative | 喘げ | 喘ぐな |
1.
to gasp; to pant; to breathe hard
To breathe with difficulty, as from physical exertion, pain, or illness.
坂を上って喘いでいる。
I'm panting from climbing the hill.
猛暑の中、選手たちは喘ぎながら走り続けた。
In the intense heat, the athletes kept running while gasping for breath.
高熱で苦しそうに喘いでいた。
She was gasping in distress from a high fever.
2.
to struggle; to suffer under hardship
To be in a state of difficulty or distress, struggling under the weight of problems such as poverty, debt, or oppression. A figurative extension of the physical gasping sense.
不景気に喘ぐ企業が増えている。
The number of companies struggling under the recession is increasing.
借金に喘ぐ生活から抜け出したい。
I want to escape a life of struggling under debt.
人手不足に喘ぐ医療現場の声が届いていない。
The voices of medical workplaces struggling with staff shortages are not being heard.
USAGE:
喘ぐ is a godan verb. In sense 2, the pattern ～に喘ぐ (to struggle under ~) is very common in news and formal writing.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 息を切らして喘ぐ (gasp out of breath)
- 暑さに喘ぐ (gasp in the heat)
- 貧困に喘ぐ (struggle under poverty)
- 借金に喘ぐ (be crushed by debt)
- 不況に喘ぐ (suffer from recession)
SIMILAR WORDS:
はあはあする is an onomatopoeic expression for panting, more casual and physical. 息切れする means "to become out of breath." 苦しむ means "to suffer" and is broader in meaning than the figurative sense of 喘ぐ.