Guide to Japanese

Covered by something

This is a short lesson to cover several specialized expressions that describe the state of being covered by something. Mostly, we will focus on the differences between だらけ、まみれ and ずくめ.

Using だらけ when an object is riddled everywhere with something

Vocabulary

間違い(ま・ちが・い)
mistake
ゴミ(go mi)
garbage
埃(ほこり)
dust
この
this （abbr. of これの）
ドキュメント(do kyu me n to)
document
全然(ぜん・ぜん)
not at all (when used with negative)
役に立つ(やく・に・たつ) u-verb
to be useful
携帯(けい・たい)
handheld (phone)
～年(～ねん)
counter for year
使う(つか・う) u-verb
to use
傷(き・ず)
injury; scratch; scrape
なる u-verb
to become
テレビ(te re bi)
TV, television
ちゃんと
properly
拭く(ふ・く) u-verb
to wipe; to dry
くれる ru-verb
to give

だらけ is usually used when something is riddled everywhere. It generally carries a negative connotation. As a result, you’ll often see だらけ used with expressions like 間違いだらけ, ゴミだらけ, or 埃だらけ. There is no conjugation rule to cover here, all you need to do is attach だらけ to the noun that is just all over the place. You should treat the result just like you would a regular noun.

Using だらけ to describe the state of being riddled everywhere by something

Attach だらけ to the noun that is covering the object or place

Examples:

  1. 間違い → 間違いだらけ
    riddled with mistakes
  2. 埃 → 埃だらけ
    riddled with dust

Examples

  1. このドキュメントは間違いだらけで、全然役に立たない。
    This document is just riddled with mistakes and is not useful at all.

  2. 携帯を２年間使ってたら、傷だらけになった。
    After using cell phone for 2 years, it became covered with scratches.

Tip

Notice how the の particle is used to modify since だらけ functions like a noun.

  • この埃だらけのテレビをちゃんと拭いてくれない？
    Can you properly dust this TV completely covered in dust?

Using まみれ to describe a covering

Vocabulary

間違い(ま・ちが・い)
mistake
血(ち)
blood
油(あぶら)
oil
ゴミ(go mi)
garbage
彼(かれ)
he; boyfriend
なる u-verb
to become
車(くるま)
car
修理(しゅう・り)
repair
頑張る(がん・ば・る) u-verb
to try one’s best
たった
only, merely
キロ(ki ro)
kilo
走る(はし・る) u-verb
to run
汗(あせ)
sweat
情けない(なさ・けない) i-adj
shameful; deplorable

まみれ may seem very similar to だらけ but there are some very important subtle differences. First, it’s only used for actually physical objects so you can’t say things like 間違いまみれ like you can with だらけ. Plus, you can only use it for things that literally cover the object. In other words, you can’t use it to mean “littered” or “riddled” like we have done with だらけ 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 だらけ.

Using まみれ to describe a covering by sticking

Like だらけ, you attach まみれ to the noun that is doing covering.

Examples:

  1. 血 → 血まみれ
    covered in blood
  2. 油 → 油まみれ
    covered in oil

You can only use まみれ for physical objects that literally covers the object.

Examples:

  1. 間違いまみれ
    not a physical object
  2. ゴミまみれ
    doesn’t actually cover anything

Examples

  1. 彼は油まみれになりながら、車の修理に頑張りました。
    While becoming covered in oil, he worked hard at fixing the car.

  2. たった１キロを走っただけで、汗まみれになるのは情けない。
    It’s pitiful that one gets covered in sweat from running just 1 kilometer.

ずくめ to express entirety

Vocabulary

黒(くろ)
black
白(しろ)
white
いい i-adj
good
こと
event, matter
団体(だん・たい)
group
去年(きょ・ねん)
last year
ニュース
news
なる u-verb
to become
この
this （abbr. of これの）
シェーク
shake
おいしい i-adj
tasty
栄養(えい・よう)
nutrition
たっぷり
filled with
体(からだ)
body

The 大辞林 dictionary describes exactly what ずくめ means very well.

名詞およびそれに準ずる語句に付いて、何から何まで、そればかりであることを表す。すべて…である。 うそ―の言いわけいいこと―黒―の服装結構―

In other words, ずくめ describes something that applies to the whole thing. For instance, if we were talking about the human body, the expression “is [X] from head to toe” might be close to what ずくめ means.

In actuality, ずくめ is an expression that is rarely used and usually with a color to describe people completely dressed in that color. For example, you can see what 黒ずくめ looks like via Google Images.

Grammatically, ずくめ works in exactly the same ways as だらけ and まみれ.

Using ずくめ to describe something that applies to the whole thing

Attach ずくめ to the noun that applies to the whole thing.

Examples:

  1. 白 → 白ずくめ
  2. いいこと → いいことずくめ

Examples

  1. 白ずくめ団体は去年ニュースになっていた。
    The organization dressed all in white was on the news last year.

  2. このシェークは、おいしいし、栄養たっぷりで体にいいですから、いいことずくめですよ。
    This shake is tasty and filled with nutrients, it’s good for (your) body so it’s entirely good things.