七転八起

Japanese

Kanji in this term
七	転	八	起
しち Grade: 1	てん Grade: 3	はち > はっ Grade: 1	き Grade: 3
goon			kan'on

Alternative spellings
七轉八起 (kyūjitai) 七顛八起

Etymology

Sinified or short form of 七転び八起き (nana korobi ya oki, literally “seven tumbles, eight stand ups”).^[1]

“Seven tumbles” commonly refers to “a lot of troubles” while standing up eight times indicates “bear up and keep trying”.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) しちてんはっき [shìchítéń wáꜜkkì] (Nakadaka – [5])^[1]
IPA^(key): [ɕit͡ɕite̞ɰ̃ ha̠k̚ʲkʲi]

Proverb

七(しち)転(てん)八(はっ)起(き) • (shichiten hakki)

an encouragement to keep going no matter how tough it is
life has its ups and downs

Descendants

→ Korean: 칠전팔기(七轉八起) (chiljeonpalgi)

Verb

七(しち)転(てん)八(はっ)起(き)する • (shichiten hakki suru) suru (stem 七(しち)転(てん)八(はっ)起(き)し (shichiten hakki shi), past 七(しち)転(てん)八(はっ)起(き)した (shichiten hakki shita))

to stand up for oneself even in multiple instances of failure or in difficult situations

Conjugation

Conjugation of "七転八起する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	七転八起し	しちてんはっきし	shichiten hakki shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	七転八起し	しちてんはっきし	shichiten hakki shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	七転八起する	しちてんはっきする	shichiten hakki suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	七転八起する	しちてんはっきする	shichiten hakki suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	七転八起すれ	しちてんはっきすれ	shichiten hakki sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	七転八起せよ¹ 七転八起しろ²	しちてんはっきせよ¹ しちてんはっきしろ²	shichiten hakki seyo¹ shichiten hakki shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	七転八起される	しちてんはっきされる	shichiten hakki sareru
Causative	七転八起させる七転八起さす	しちてんはっきさせるしちてんはっきさす	shichiten hakki saseru shichiten hakki sasu
Potential	七転八起できる	しちてんはっきできる	shichiten hakki dekiru
Volitional	七転八起しよう	しちてんはっきしよう	shichiten hakki shiyō
Negative	七転八起しない	しちてんはっきしない	shichiten hakki shinai
Negative continuative	七転八起せず	しちてんはっきせず	shichiten hakki sezu
Formal	七転八起します	しちてんはっきします	shichiten hakki shimasu
Perfective	七転八起した	しちてんはっきした	shichiten hakki shita
Conjunctive	七転八起して	しちてんはっきして	shichiten hakki shite
Hypothetical conditional	七転八起すれば	しちてんはっきすれば	shichiten hakki sureba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]