見舞う: visiting the sick and a storm striking an island
Distinguish the purpose of a hospital trip from a storm that struck a small island. Read who acts and what is affected, without turning the intended visit into a completed visit or recovery.
The purpose of a hospital trip
見舞う (みまう) can mean visiting someone who is sick. In “入院した友人を見舞うため、午後に病院へ行きました。” (“I went to the hospital in the afternoon to visit a hospitalized friend.”), the speaker went to the hospital in the afternoon in order to visit a hospitalized friend.
見舞うため states the purpose of going. The trip to the hospital is reported, but this wording does not separately confirm that the visit took place or that the friend recovered.
A storm struck the island
In “突然の激しい嵐が小さな島を見舞いました。” (“A sudden violent storm struck the small island.”), a sudden violent storm struck the small island. 嵐 is the storm acting on the island, and 小さな島 is the place affected.
Here 見舞いました describes a disaster striking, rather than a visitor calling on a patient. Keep the storm and island in those roles; the sentence does not give the extent of the damage.
Match the action with its participants
The hospital scene has a person intending to visit a hospitalized friend. The island scene has a storm striking a place. Checking the subject and target keeps these meanings of 見舞う distinct.
The first example explains why the speaker went to the hospital, while the second reports a storm that struck. A stated purpose and an event that occurred should retain their different scope.
Does 突然の激しい嵐が小さな島を見舞いました mean that the storm came to visit someone who was sick?
Show the answer and why
No. It means that a sudden violent storm struck the small island. The storm is the disaster and the island is the affected place, unlike the person going to the hospital to visit a sick friend.