髪の毛

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 髪の毛 joins 髪, hair of the head, to 毛, a hair or body hair, with の and is read かみのけ.
• Basic usage: It can refer collectively to head hair or to the strands that touch something or fall out.
  • In 窓から入った風で髪の毛が頬にかかった。, hair falls against the cheek; in 床に落ちた髪の毛をほうきで集めた。, fallen hair is gathered from the floor.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Roles of が and を
  • In 髪の毛が頬にかかる, the hair is the subject; in 髪の毛を集める, it is the object being collected.
• 髪の毛 and 髪
  • Both mean head hair. 髪の毛 readily focuses on the hair itself or individual strands, while 髪(かみ) can more broadly include one's hairstyle or head of hair.
• Meaning of かかる
  • 頬にかかった means that the hair hung or fell against the cheek. Keep this apart from other senses of かかる, such as taking time or costing money.