風邪を引くと、風邪がなかなか抜けませんよ。

English Translation

If you catch a cold, you cannot easily get rid of it.

Would this sentence sound more natural if we removed the second 風邪(が)?

1 Like

@ericaw
As you pointed out, the second 風邪 is very redundant and unnatural in Japanese

My alternative translation is:

風邪は一度引いたら、なかなか治りませんよ。(かぜはいちどひいたら、なかなかなおりませんよ)

一度 (once you did) is optional, but sounds better in this context in Japanese.

Please also note that 抜けない for 風邪 is a bad collocation. 抜ける (lit. = to slip out/fall off) is used when an object is A) supposed to remain there but slip out; or B) it was kicked in. For example,

髪の毛が抜けた。= I have my hair lost.

昨晩、飲み過ぎてアルコールが抜けない。= I drank too much last night. Alcohol level in my body is still high.

この薬が抜けていない状態で、車を運転してはいけません。= Don’t drive a car while this medicine is still kicking in.

You consume alcohol and medicine for a certain purpose to expect a benefit. Buy you don’t intentionally catch a cold with any expectations. 風邪 or any symptoms are usually followed by 治る (healed), not 抜ける.

I replaced particle を with は in order to highlight the risk of cold by implicitly comparing with other common diseases. So, は in my alternative translation implies that “don’t underestimate a cold”.