尋ねる

Japanese

Kanji in this term
尋
たず Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
訊ねる

Etymology

From Old Japanese 尋ぬ (tazunu), in the 下(しも)二(に)段(だん)活(かつ)用(よう) (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) pattern.

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) たずねる [tàzúnéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])^[1]^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [ta̠zɨne̞ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 尋ねる

Plain	尋ねる	たずねる	`[tàzúnéꜜrù]`
Conjunctive	尋ねて	たずねて	`[tàzúꜜnètè]`
Perfective	尋ねた	たずねた	`[tàzúꜜnètà]`
Negative	尋ねない	たずねない	`[tàzúnéꜜnàì]`
Negative perfective	尋ねなかった	たずねなかった	`[tàzúnéꜜnàkàttà]`
Hypothetical conditional	尋ねれば	たずねれば	`[tàzúnéꜜrèbà]`
Past conditional	尋ねたら	たずねたら	`[tàzúꜜnètàrà]`
Imperative	尋ねろ尋ねよ	たずねろたずねよ	`[tàzúnéꜜrò]` `[tàzúnéꜜyò]`
Volitional	尋ねよう	たずねよー	`[tàzúnéyóꜜò]`
Desiderative	尋ねたい	たずねたい	`[tàzúnétáꜜì]`
Formal	尋ねます	たずねます	`[tàzúnémáꜜsù]`
Formal negative	尋ねません	たずねません	`[tàzúnémáséꜜǹ]`
Formal volitional	尋ねましょう	たずねましょー	`[tàzúnémáshóꜜò]`
Formal perfective	尋ねました	たずねました	`[tàzúnémáꜜshìtà]`
Continuative	尋ね尋ねに	たずねたずねに	`[tàzúꜜnè]` `[tàzúꜜnè nì]`
Negative continuative	尋ねず尋ねずに	たずねずたずねずに	`[tàzúnéꜜzù]` `[tàzúnéꜜzù nì]`
Passive	尋ねられる	たずねられる	`[tàzúnéráréꜜrù]`
Causative	尋ねさせる尋ねさす	たずねさせるたずねさす	`[tàzúnésáséꜜrù]` `[tàzúnésáꜜsù]`
Potential	尋ねられる尋ねれる	たずねられるたずねれる	`[tàzúnéráréꜜrù]` `[tàzúnéréꜜrù]`

Homophone: 訪ねる

Verb

尋(たず)ねる • (tazuneru) transitive ichidan (stem 尋(たず)ね (tazune), past 尋(たず)ねた (tazuneta))

ask (a question)
Synonyms: 聞く (kiku), (humble) 伺う (ukagau)

道(みち)を尋(たず)ねる
michi o tazuneru
to ask for directions
search, look for, investigate
Synonym: 探す (sagasu)

生(い)き別(わか)れの子(こ)を尋(たず)ねる
ikiwakare no ko o tazuneru
to search for a long-lost child

真(しん)理(り)を尋(たず)ねる
shinri o tazuneru
to seek truth
- 1916, 与謝野晶子, 私娼の撲滅について [On the Eradication of Unlicensed Prostitution]:
  
  こういう不(ふ)徳(とく)な職業(しょくぎょう)の起(き)源(げん)を尋(たず)ねることはむずかしい。
  Kōiu futoku na shokugyō no kigen o tazuneru koto wa muzukashii.
  It is difficult to investigate the origin of such an immoral occupation.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "尋ねる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	尋ね	たずね	tazune
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	尋ね	たずね	tazune
Shūshikei ("terminal")	尋ねる	たずねる	tazuneru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	尋ねる	たずねる	tazuneru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	尋ねれ	たずねれ	tazunere
Meireikei ("imperative")	尋ねよ¹ 尋ねろ²	たずねよ¹ たずねろ²	tazuneyo¹ tazunero²
Key constructions
Passive	尋ねられる	たずねられる	tazunerareru
Causative	尋ねさせる尋ねさす	たずねさせるたずねさす	tazunesaseru tazunesasu
Potential	尋ねられる尋ねれる³	たずねられるたずねれる³	tazunerareru tazunereru³
Volitional	尋ねよう	たずねよう	tazuneyō
Negative	尋ねない尋ねぬ尋ねん	たずねないたずねぬたずねん	tazunenai tazunenu tazunen
Negative continuative	尋ねず	たずねず	tazunezu
Formal	尋ねます	たずねます	tazunemasu
Perfective	尋ねた	たずねた	tazuneta
Conjunctive	尋ねて	たずねて	tazunete
Hypothetical conditional	尋ねれば	たずねれば	tazunereba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential

Related terms

お尋(たず)ね (otazune): (n.) asking (for polite)

References

^ 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 (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

“尋ねる”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026