Today I want to look at a word that I misused in Japanese for years:

うなされる

Taking responsibility for mistakes is no fun, so I'm going to blame Japanese-English dictionaries for this particular mistake.

Because they say this word means:

1) to have a nightmare
2) to make a noise during a nightmare

Having read that in several dictionaries, I used this as my go-to word when talking about nightmares.

Incorrectly.

When I wanted to say: I had a nightmare.

...I would say: うなされた.

...but I should have said: 悪夢みた (あくむ　みた).

So here are our new (correct) definitions:

悪夢をみる
あくむ　を　みる
to have a nightmare
Literally: "bad dream / nightmare + を + watch / see."

うなされる
to cry out during a nightmare

If we really think about these new (accurate) definitions, we will realize the following:

★ You cannot use うなされる about a nightmare that you had, because you (presumably) cannot hear yourself crying out while you're asleep.

☆ If you want to talk about your own bad dream, 悪夢を見た is more appropriate.

For example, let's say Rei has a nightmare. And in her sleep, she is making noises--little cries--like she is having a nightmare. The next day I could tell her:

昨日うなされてたよ。
きのう　うなされてた　よ。
You were crying out in your sleep last night.
Literally: "yesterday + were crying out in sleep + よ."

Or, perhaps she had a nightmare, but she did not cry out in her sleep. In this case, I would be unaware that she had a bad dream, and the next morning she might tell me:

悪夢みた。
あくむ　みた。
I had a nightmare.
Literally: "bad dream / nightmare + saw / watched."
Note: I dropped the を that would go between these words, as this is common in casual conversation.

She could also say:

怖い夢みた。
こわい　ゆめ　みた。
I had a scary dream.
Literally: "scary + dream + saw."

Some of you kanji-loving kids out there may be wondering why we wrote みた in hiragana and not with kanji as 見た.

First, either way is probably fine, as this is more of a stylistic preference. Rei told me that she prefers to use hiragana, because you don't see a dream with your eyes... and "eye," 目, is part of the kanji 見た. But yeah, either way is fine. And later in this lesson, I will be using the kanji in some example sentences.

Types of Dreams ☽

夢（ゆめ // dream）
悪夢（あくむ // bad dream; nightmare）
変な夢（へんな　ゆめ // a strange dream）
怖い夢（こわい　ゆめ // a scary dream）
正夢（まさゆめ // a dream that comes true）
予知夢（よちむ // a dream of the future）

Example Dreams *_*

With all of that explaining out of the way, let's look at a handful of dream-related example sentences...

変な夢見た。
へんな　ゆめ　みた。
I had a strange dream.
Literally: "strange + dream + saw."

最近よく悪夢見るんだ。
さいきん　よく　あくむ　みる　んだ。
I've been having a lot of bad dreams lately.
Literally: "lately + often + bad dream / nightmare + see + んだ."

面白い夢見たけど思い出せない！
おもしろい　ゆめ　みた　けど　おもいだせない！
I had an interesting dream, but I can't remember it!
Literally: "interesting + dream + saw + but + can't recall!"

怖い夢みた？夜中うなされてたよ。
こわい　ゆめ　みた？　よなか　うなされてた　よ。
Did you have a bad dream? You were crying out in your sleep last night.
Literally: "scary + dream + saw? + middle of the night + were crying out in (your) sleep."

結婚する夢みた！正夢になるといいな〜
けっこん　する　ゆめ　みた！　まさゆめ　に　なる　と　いい　な～
I had a dream that I got married! I hope it comes true.
Literally: "marriage + do + dream + saw! + dream that comes true + becomes + と + good + な～."
Note: You can attach plain form verbs and adjectives to the front of といいな～, and it means "I hope that [thing I said before といいな～]." So, for example, 美味しい (おいしい) is "delicious," and 美味しいといいな～ means "I hope it's delicious."

仕事辞める夢みた！予知夢かな？
しごと　やめる　ゆめ　みた！　よちむ　かな？
I had a dream that I quit my job! Maybe it was a dream of the future.
Literally: "job + quit + dream + saw! + dream of the future + かな？"

That's all for today.

Hopefully this lesson doesn't give you nightmares. ^_^