リンゴの花は霜でいたんでいた。

Sentence Discussions Japanese
#1
English Translation

The apple-blossom was touched by the frost.

What is the correct Kanji for “いたんでいた”? Is it 傷んでいた?

#2

@wildcar3
Yes, 傷む is the correct Kanji for いたむ in this context. There are two homophones that even native Japanese speakers often get confused with.

  • 痛む – used when it hurts physically or financially and you feel an ache. (e.g., 足が痛む; 懐が痛む (= spent too much money))
  • 傷む – used when it is damaged, spoiled or become useless but you don’t feel an ache. (e.g., 傷んだ果物 (= rotten fruit); 傷んだ髪 (= damaged hair))

Source: Mainichi Kotoba by the professional proofreading team at Mainichi Newspaper (one of the big five national newspapers)