〜思いをする: 'To Go Through a Feeling' (Meaning + Examples)
Describing an experience you went through
〜思いをする takes an adjective (usually describing an emotion) and turns it into "to have that kind of experience." The adjective sets the flavor of the experience — regret, fear, embarrassment, hardship — and 思いをする supplies the "went through it" meaning.
やったんは戦争中、恐ろしい思いをした。
やったんは せんそうちゅう、おそろしい おもいを した。
Yattan went through a terrifying experience during the war.
恐ろしい思いをした = literally 'did a terrifying feeling' — i.e., experienced terror.
モチは人前で転んで、恥ずかしい思いをした。
モチは ひとまえで ころんで、はずかしい おもいを した。
Mochi fell down in front of everyone and had a humiliating experience.
彼女は若い頃、貧しくて苦しい思いをしたそうだ。
かのじょは わかいころ、まずしくて くるしい おもいを したそうだ。
I hear she went through hardship, being poor when she was young.
Attaching to adjectives
The adjective goes directly before 思いをする in its plain/attributive form, describing the kind of experience.
| Adjective type | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| い-adjective | 〜い + 思いをする | 悔しい思いをする (to feel bitter regret) |
| な-adjective | 〜な + 思いをする | 惨めな思いをする (to have a miserable experience) |
| Past experience | 〜思いをした | 怖い思いをした (had a scary experience) |
満員電車で足を踏まれて、痛い思いをした。
まんいんでんしゃで あしを ふまれて、いたい おもいを した。
Someone stepped on my foot on the packed train, and it really hurt.
Can describe physical as well as emotional experiences.
Nearly always negative
Unlike a plain adjective + past tense, 〜思いをする almost never appears with purely happy adjectives like 嬉しい in casual speech — when it does, it usually still implies something bittersweet or hard-won. Compare 怖かった ("it was scary," a flat description) with 怖い思いをした ("I went through something scary," which foregrounds the ordeal itself).
The short version
- 〜思いをする = "to go through/have [an emotional or physical] experience" — attaches to an adjective naming the feeling.
- Attaches to: い-adjective / な-adjective (plain form) + 思いをする.
- Nuance/register: almost always describes something unpleasant — regret, fear, shame, hardship.
- Don't confuse with: a plain adjective + past tense, which just states how something felt without framing it as an "experience lived through."
Practice it
Choose 思いをする when the sentence describes going through a (usually difficult) feeling.
＿＿＿に入れるのに最もよいものを選びなさい。
戦争中、多くの人が＿＿＿。
More N1 grammar to explore
Keep going with related patterns at the same level:
- 〜折に — 〜折に is a formal expression meaning 'on the occasion of' or 'at the time when' — 東京にお越しの折に ('when you happen to visit Tokyo'). It politely marks a fitting opportunity, common in letters and formal speech.
- およそ — およそ is an adverb meaning 'approximately,' 'roughly,' or 'generally' — およそ170フィート ('about 170 feet'). Before a number it rounds a figure; before a noun or in a negative sentence it can mean 'the general gist' or 'not remotely.'
- 〜たりとも〜ない — 〜たりとも〜ない attaches to '一 + counter' to mean 'not even a single...' — 一瞬たりとも無駄にできない. Formal and emphatic, it denies even the smallest possible unit.
- 〜てならない — 〜てならない attaches to feeling verbs or adjectives to mean an emotion is uncontrollable — 気になってならない ('I just can't stop worrying'). Formal and literary, don't confuse it with the unrelated 〜てはならない ('must not').
- 〜ともなると — 〜ともなると means 'once (someone/something) reaches that level or status, of course...' — it draws an expected, natural conclusion from a notable status, role, or occasion. Common with jobs, ranks, and life stages.
- 〜はおろか — 〜はおろか means 'let alone X' — it names a basic, easy case (X) and pairs it with a negative predicate to say that if even X isn't possible, a harder case (Y) certainly isn't either, similar to English 'not even X, let alone Y.'