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I'm going to Japan in a week, and I'd like to be able to convey the fact that
I am (very) allergic to coriander. Google Translate gave me:

> 私はコリアンダーにアレルギーがある

to be pronounced as:

> _Watashi wa koriandā ni arerugī ga aru_

but I'm a bit suspicious of this because the words for coriander and allergy
seem to be transliterations of the sound of the words in English, and I find
it hard to believe that the Japanese would not have their own word for
coriander and allergy.

So, is this the best way to inform restaurant staff that I am allergic to
coriander (and not just that I don't like it) ?
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2017-07-20T13:53:46.750
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2017-07-21T00:45:13.210
2017-07-21T00:45:13.210
question
translation loanwords
Is 私はコリアンダーにアレルギーがある an accurate translation?
Yup, I should think that would make your allergy clear.

As a side note, Coriander is often known as パクチー (From Thai “phakchi”) as well
so you might want to try saying that if the point doesn't seem to be getting
across.

EDIT: @Chocolate points out that when it's a spice its コリアンダー and when it's a
raw leaf it's パクチー. Assuming you are allergic to both you might want to
mention both.
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2017-07-20T13:56:44.480
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2017-07-20T14:44:23.767
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For the sake of understanding what it is you're saying (it sounds like you're
still new to Japanese, so forgive me if I'm wrong), 私はコリアンダーにアレルギーがある can be
broken down like this:

  * 私 (I)
  * は (marks preceding clause as the sentence topic)
  * コリアンダー (Coriander, the spice (thanks @Chocolate))
  * に (to)
  * アレルギー (allergy)
  * が (marks preceding clause to be the subject in regards to the verb)
  * ある (in your case, "have")

I would directly translate it back to English as "I have an allergy to
Coriander".

If you'd like to express that your allergy is severe, try:
私はコリアンダーに重度のアレルギーがある (watashi wa koriandaa ni **juudo no** arerugii ga aru).
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2017-07-20T19:27:51.013
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I think the given sentence works. For the sake of politeness, however, you
might want to use －ます form instead of standard form for ある. Your sentence
might look like this, then:

> 私はコリアンダーにアレルギーが **あります** 。  
>  Watashi wa koriandā ni arerugī ga **arimasu**.  
>  I **have** an allergy to Coriander.

I have added bold to the example to show what changed and what part of the
sentence was affected.
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2017-07-20T22:39:40.683
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