上げる

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
上
あ Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
あげる

From Old Japanese 上ぐ (agu), following 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”). from Proto-Japonic *ank-a-. Cognate with 揚(あ)げる (ageru), 挙(あ)げる (ageru).

Development

Natural progression from Old and Classical Japanese 下(しも)二(に)段(だん)活(かつ)用(よう) (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs ending in -u to modern Japanese 下(しも)一(いち)段(だん)活(かつ)用(よう) (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”) verbs ending in -eru.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) あげる [àgérú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[3]^[4]^[1]
IPA^(key): [a̠ɡe̞ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 上げる

Plain	上げる	あげる	`[àgérú]`
Conjunctive	上げて	あげて	`[àgété]`
Perfective	上げた	あげた	`[àgétá]`
Negative	上げない	あげない	`[àgénáí]`
Negative perfective	上げなかった	あげなかった	`[àgénáꜜkàttà]`
Hypothetical conditional	上げれば	あげれば	`[àgéréꜜbà]`
Past conditional	上げたら	あげたら	`[àgétáꜜrà]`
Imperative	上げろ上げよ	あげろあげよ	`[àgéró]` `[àgéꜜyò]`
Volitional	上げよう	あげよー	`[àgéyóꜜò]`
Desiderative	上げたい	あげたい	`[àgétáí]`
Formal	上げます	あげます	`[àgémáꜜsù]`
Formal negative	上げません	あげません	`[àgémáséꜜǹ]`
Formal volitional	上げましょう	あげましょー	`[àgémáshóꜜò]`
Formal perfective	上げました	あげました	`[àgémáꜜshìtà]`
Continuative	上げ上げに	あげあげに	`[àgé]` `[àgé ní]`
Negative continuative	上げず上げずに	あげずあげずに	`[àgézú]` `[àgézú ní]`
Passive	上げられる	あげられる	`[àgérárérú]`
Causative	上げさせる上げさす	あげさせるあげさす	`[àgésásérú]` `[àgésású]`
Potential	上げられる上げれる	あげられるあげれる	`[àgérárérú]` `[àgérérú]`

(Kyōto) あげる [ágérú] (Kōki – [0])^[5]^[1]

Verb

上(あ)げる • (ageru) transitive ichidan (stem 上(あ)げ (age), past 上(あ)げた (ageta))

Japanese verb pair
active	上(あ)げる
mediopassive	上(あ)がる

to raise, to lift
Antonym: 下げる (sageru)

顔(かお)を上(あ)げる ― kao o ageru ― to look up (literally, “to lift one's face”)

音(おん)量(りょう)を上(あ)げる ― onryō o ageru ― to raise the volume
to utter, to cry, to produce, to raise (a voice)
悲(ひ)鳴(めい)を上(あ)げる ― himei o ageru ― to shriek; to let out a scream

声(こえ)を上(あ)げて泣(な)く ― koe o agete naku ― to sob
to vomit, to throw up
(Can we add an example for this sense?)
to upload
(Can we add an example for this sense?)
(chiefly in kana) to give
犬(いぬ)に毎日(まいにち)えさをあげてください。
Inu ni mainichi esa o agete kudasai.
Please give the dog food every day.
(auxiliary, chiefly in kana) (for the speaker) to do (something) for someone else [with (conjunctive +) て]
お菓子(かし)を買(か)ってあげる。 ― O-kashi o katte ageru. ― I'll buy you some sweets.

Usage notes

Japanese has an extensive vocabulary for giving and receiving. While 上げる is used for giving something to someone of equal or lower social standing, 差(さ)し上(あ)げる (sashiageru) is used for giving to someone of higher rank and やる (yaru) for giving to a non-human or to someone of low rank. It is fairly common to use 上げる for giving something to a pet, especially in casual speech, but some speakers consider this usage nonstandard or incorrect.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "上げる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	上げ	あげ	age
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	上げ	あげ	age
Shūshikei ("terminal")	上げる	あげる	ageru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	上げる	あげる	ageru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	上げれ	あげれ	agere
Meireikei ("imperative")	上げよ¹ 上げろ²	あげよ¹ あげろ²	ageyo¹ agero²
Key constructions
Passive	上げられる	あげられる	agerareru
Causative	上げさせる上げさす	あげさせるあげさす	agesaseru agesasu
Potential	上げられる上げれる³	あげられるあげれる³	agerareru agereru³
Volitional	上げよう	あげよう	ageyō
Negative	上げない上げぬ上げん	あげないあげぬあげん	agenai agenu agen
Negative continuative	上げず	あげず	agezu
Formal	上げます	あげます	agemasu
Perfective	上げた	あげた	ageta
Conjunctive	上げて	あげて	agete
Hypothetical conditional	上げれば	あげれば	agereba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “あ・げる【上・揚・挙】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō
^ Nakai, Yukihiko, editor (2002), 京阪系アクセント辞典 [A Dictionary of Tone on Words of the Keihan-type Dialects] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Bensei, →ISBN

“上げる”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

Ineko Kondō, Fumi Takano, Mary E. Althaus, et al. (2002), Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, third edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN

[NKD2O-1] 1.0 ^1.1 “あ・げる【上・揚・挙】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK2-4] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō

[5] Nakai, Yukihiko, editor (2002), 京阪系アクセント辞典 [A Dictionary of Tone on Words of the Keihan-type Dialects] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Bensei, →ISBN

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