Have you ever heard of the word “Darake” in Japanese? Sometimes, Japanese use phrases such as “Gomi-Darake [ごみだらけ] which means [Full of Garbage]”, “Kizu-Darake [傷だらけ] that means [Full scratches]”. It is a very useful phrase to express “Full of something”. Although, this is over the N3 level and might be difficult. However, it is very good for you to learn this phrase to make your conversation in Japanese turn more interactive.
When you have a look at this article, you would understand “Darake” and another similar meaning word, called “Mamire”. In addition, if you are interested to learn the Japanese language, please take a look as well here some articles I wrote. But let’s check it out first about “Darake” here! Hope you enjoy this article!
Contents
What does “Darake” mean in Japanese?
“Darake” is usually used when something is riddled everywhere, and meaning is ” Full of” and ” Covered”. It generally carries a negative connotation. As a result, you’ll often see “Darake” used with expressions like “Machigai-Darake”, ”Gomi-Darake”, or “Hokori-Darake”.
There is no conjugation rule to cover here, all you need to do is attach “Darake” to the noun that is just all over the place. You should treat the result just like you would a regular noun. Using “Darake” to describe the state of being riddled everywhere by something. Attach “Darake” to the noun that is covering the object or place.
| 【Grammar】: Noun + Darake 【Meaning】: “Full of..” “Covered with..” “A lot of.. (something undesirable)“ |
The word “Darake” is used to describe “Number of specific things in the observed range are larger than others, and they exist clearly.” Here “Darake” means “There are other things”, but the number is small, and they are not conspicuous, and as far as you can see, the state where a specific thing is noticeable. Although there is no specific standard for quantity, the state occupied by the majority who can clearly see that the number and quantity are large at a glance is expressed as “Full of “.
How to use “Darake“ in a sentence? Often used sentence
【Explanation】
“Darake” is a sentence pattern used to mean “There is a lot of”. Remember that “Darake” is not used for good things, but for negative things. “Darake” means “There are many and conspicuous”. It is almost used in Negative meaning.
（Negative Meaning）
- テーブルの上うえがゴミだらけだ。
Table-no ue ga “Gomi-Darake” da.
There’s a lot of garbage on the table.
（Positive Meaning）
- テーブルの上がおいしい料理だらけだ。
Table no ue ga “Oishii Ryouri-Darake” da.
There’s a lot of delicious food on the table.
| Japanese Sentences | How to read | Meaning in English |
| 先週のテストは間違いだらけだった | Senshu no test wa [Machigai-Darake] datta | There are a lot of mistakes in last week test. |
| 彼女の部屋はゴミだらけだ | Kanojyo no heya wa [Gomi-Darake] da | Her room is full of garbage. |
| 私のクラスは男だらけだ | Watashino kurasu wa [Otoko-Darake] da | My class is full of men. |
| こどもたちがどろだらけで遊んでいる | Kodomo-tachi ga [Doro-Darake] de asondeiru | The children are playing in the mud. |
【Example Sentences】
| Japanese Sentences | How to read | Meaning in English |
| 今日のパーティーは知しらない人だらけ だ。 | Kyou no party wa [Shiranaihito-Darake] da | Today’s party is full of people I don’t know. |
| 床がほこりだらけ になっている。 | Yukaga [Hokori-Darake] ni natteiru | The floor is covered with dust. |
| 彼の話はうそだらけ だ。 | Kare no hanashi wa [Uso-Darake] da | His story is full of lies. |
| 息子がころんで、血だらけになった。 | Musuko ga Koronde [Chi-Darake] ni natta. | My son fell on and covered in blood. |
| 転職してしらない事ことだらけ なので勉強しなければならない。 | Tenshokushite [Shiranaikoto-Darake] nanode benkyou shinakerebanaranai | I’ve just started a new job in a new industry and there’s a lot I don’t know, so I need to learn. |
※ Notice
How the “の[No]” particle is used to modify since “Darake” functions as a noun.
For example:
ほこりだらけのテレビをふいてくれない？
“Hokori-Darakeno” TV wo Huitekurenai?
Can you properly dust this TV covered in dust?
| 【Formation】: N ＋ Darake or N ＋ Darakeno + N ※ Connect only to nouns |
Please look at the table below to understand the most common way the Japanese do when they say this word.
【The Phrases often used by Native】
| ごみだらけ | Gomi-Darake | Full of Garbages |
| まちがいだらけ | Machigai-Darake | Full of Mistakes |
| 傷だらけ | Kizu-Darake | Full of Scratches |
| しわだらけ | Shiwa-Darake | Full of Crumpled |
| うそだらけ | Uso-Darake | Full of Lies |
| 人だらけ | Hito-Darake | Full of People |
| わからないことだらけ | Wakaranaikoto-Darake | Full of Unknown things |
| 嫌いなものだらけ | Kirainamono-Darake | Full of Dislike things |
Other Similar Phrase “Mamire”
What is “Mamire” mean?
“Mamire” may seem very similar to “Darake” but there are some important subtle differences. First, it means there is a lot on the surface. It’s only used for actual physical objects so you can’t say things like Machigai – Mamire [Mistakes] like you can with “Darake”. Plus, you can only use it for things that cover the object.
In other words, you can’t use it to mean “littered” or “riddled” like we have done with “Darake”. So you can use it for things like liquids and dust, but you can’t use it for things like scratches and garbage. The grammatical rules are the same as “Darake”.
| 【Grammar】: Noun＋”Mamire or Norn＋”Mamireno”＋Norn 【Meaning】: There is a lot on the surface |
【The Phrases often used by Native】
| 血まみれ | Chi-Mamire | Full of Blood |
| どろまみれ | Doro-Mamire | Full of Mud |
| ホコリまみれ | Hokori-Mamire | Full of Dust |
| 油まみれ | Abura-Mamire | Full of Oil |
| 汗まみれ | Ase-Mamire | Full of Sweat |
| 借金まみれ（Exception） | Shakkin-Mamire | Full of Dept |
【Example】
- キッチンが油まみれだ Kitchen ga Abura-Mamire da
The kitchen is covered with oil
- ホコリまみれの部屋 Hokori-Mamire no heya
A room covered with dust
- 血まみれのナイフ Chi-Mamire no naihu
Bloody knife
【Explanation】
“Mamire” is a sentence pattern used to mean “A lot of ~ is attached to the entire surface”. This sentence pattern is used for negative things. Remember that “a lot of dirty things are attached to the surface” In addition, such as うそ [Lies] and まちがい[Mistakes], doesn’t mean “Attached to the surface of the body”, so the sentence is a little unnatural.
On the other hand, “Darake” has a wider meaning than “Mamire” and is a word that expresses “A state where there is a lot of something, and it is not good”.
【Example】
“Mamire” is used to mean “A lot of ~ is attached to the surface”, so unlike “Darake”, it cannot be used for “Things that do not stick to the surface”
⭕️先週のテストは間違いだらけだった
Last week’s test was full of mistakes.
❌先週のテストは間違いまみれだった (“Mistake” does not adhere to the surface)
“Machigai-Mamire”
“Mamire” means “a liquid or powdery substance sticks to the surface of the body and becomes dirty”. “Ase-Mamire” at the beginning means “Sweaty and to the surface of the body and gets dirty”. Since “Sweat” is a liquid, it can be combined with “Mamire”.
In this way, “Mamire” means that liquid or powdery substances stick to the surface of the body and become dirty. “Mamire” is used when you want to say that there is a lot of “~,” but it is more often used when you want to say that having a lot of “~” is an undesirable condition. “Mamire” is written as [塗れ”Paint”] when written in Chinese characters.
Looking at the Japanese characters, I think it’s easy to imagine the meaning, but there’s one exception 😮
【Exceptions】
彼は借金まみれだ
Kare wa Shakkin-Mamire da
He’s covered in debt (meaning: he’s got a lot of debt)
This “Shakkin [debt] -Mamire” “Full of Dept” is often used as an exception. It’s okay to remember that you can only use anything that sticks to the surface other than “Debt”!
What is the difference between “Darake” and “Mamire”?
Sometimes, you may be confused about using “Darake” and “Mamire”. It looks the same, but it’s having little different meaning and usage. From here, you can learn the difference between “Darake” and “Mamire”. The word “Darake” means “Being covered in itself.” It also means “A lot”.
On the other hand, “Mamire” means “A liquid or powdery substance sticks to the surface of the body and becomes dirty”. As you can see, the two words have very similar meanings.
On the other hand, “Darake” has much wider meaning than “Mamire” and is a word that expresses “a state where there is a lot of something, and it is not good”.
Therefore, it can indicate that there are a lot of bad things on the surface such as “Doro-Darake”[Full of soil] and “Chi-Mamire”[Full of Blood], and like “Uso-Darake”[Full of Iies] and “Machigai-Darake”[Full of mistakes]. It can also indicate that there are a lot of bad things.
*Darake*
There is a lot of something, and it represents a bad condition
It can be used for both negative and none-negative things, but it has a strong negative impression.
*Mamire*
Indicates that a lot of bad things (dirty things) are attached to the surface.
Mostly used for negative things, in a sentence that can be paraphrased as “Darake”, the speaker’s negative feelings are more than “Darake”.
※ Notice
“Mamire” has Negative Image, however“Darake” shows a lot of situations, but it can be used even when it is not negative. In addition, “Mamire” has the restriction of “The surface of the body” and the restriction of “liquid and powdery”.
On the other hand, “Kuruma-Darake” refers to roads with heavy traffic and is called “Full of cars”.
EX: 猫だらけの島 “Neko-Darake”no Shima. An island full of cats
野菜だらけ弁当 ”Yasai-Darake”bento A bento full of Vegetables
What can we use for?
| Object | Full of ~ | |
| ごみ [Gmi] Garbage | 〇 Darake | △ Mamie |
| しょるい [Shorui] Docuent | 〇 Darake | 〇 Mamire |
| ほこり [Hokori] Dust | 〇 Darake | 〇 Mamire |
| Human | ||
| 男 [Otoko] Man | 〇 Darake | × Mamire |
| 人 [Hito] Human | 〇 Darake | × Mamire |
| Liquid | ||
| なみだ [Namida] Tears | 〇 Darake | ◎ Mamire |
| 油 [Abura] Oil | △ Darake | ◎ Mamire |
| Abstract Objet | ||
| 借金 [Shakkin] Dept | 〇 Darake | ◎ Mamire |
| Coluer | ||
| 黒 [Kuro] Black | × Darake | × Mamire |
Since “Mamire” is used for small objects, “Hokori-Darake”[Full of dust] has a large amount of dust, and “Hokori-Mamire” has a small amount of dust. Since garbage has a certain amount of mass, “Mamire” is △ and “Darake” is 〇.
【Summary】
| 血 [Chi] | だらけ/まみれ | Full of Blood |
| どろ [Doro] | だらけ/まみれ | Full of Mud |
| ほこり [Hokori] | だらけ/まみれ | Full of Dust |
| 砂 [Suna] | だらけ/まみれ | Full of Sand |
| 借金 [Shakkin] | だらけ/まみれ | Full of Dept |
If we talk about the situation of these five nouns, “Darake”and “Mamire” are almost the same meaning.
Summarize
- “Darake” means “Full of” and “There is a lot of”. It is always connected to Noun.
- “Darake” and “Mamire” is almost same meaning, but “Mamire” is limited use for liquid and “Darake” is much wider usage than “Mamire”.
- “Darake” is often used in negative meaning, but sometimes used in non-negative meaning, however “Mamire” is only used for negative meaning.
- It is better to learn basic “Darake” and “Mamire” phrase to have more interactive communication in Japanese.
