爪の垢を煎じて飲む
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 爪 | 垢 | 煎 | 飲 |
| つめ Grade: S |
あか Hyōgai |
せん Grade: S |
の Grade: 3 |
| kun'yomi | on'yomi | kun'yomi | |
| Alternative spelling |
|---|
| 爪の垢を煎じて飮む (kyūjitai) |
Etymology
Compound of 爪 (tsume, “nail”) + の (no, possessive particle) + 垢 (aka, “dirt”) + を (o, accusative case particle) + 煎じて (senjite, te form of 煎じる (senjiru, “to boil”)) + 飲む (nomu, “to drink”). Literally, “to boil the dirt under (somebody's) fingernails and drink it (so that you may become like them)”.
Verb
爪の垢を煎じて飲む • (tsume no aka o senjite nomu) godan (stem 爪の垢を煎じて飲み (tsume no aka o senjite nomi), past 爪の垢を煎じて飲んだ (tsume no aka o senjite nonda))
- (idiomatic) to take a leaf out of someone's book; to follow in someone's footsteps
Conjugation
| Katsuyōkei ("stem forms") | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mizenkei ("imperfective") | 爪の垢を煎じて飲ま | つめのあかをせんじてのま | tsume no aka o senjite noma |
| Ren’yōkei ("continuative") | 爪の垢を煎じて飲み | つめのあかをせんじてのみ | tsume no aka o senjite nomi |
| Shūshikei ("terminal") | 爪の垢を煎じて飲む | つめのあかをせんじてのむ | tsume no aka o senjite nomu |
| Rentaikei ("attributive") | 爪の垢を煎じて飲む | つめのあかをせんじてのむ | tsume no aka o senjite nomu |
| Kateikei ("hypothetical") | 爪の垢を煎じて飲め | つめのあかをせんじてのめ | tsume no aka o senjite nome |
| Meireikei ("imperative") | 爪の垢を煎じて飲め | つめのあかをせんじてのめ | tsume no aka o senjite nome |
| Key constructions | |||
| Passive | 爪の垢を煎じて飲まれる | つめのあかをせんじてのまれる | tsume no aka o senjite nomareru |
| Causative | 爪の垢を煎じて飲ませる 爪の垢を煎じて飲ます |
つめのあかをせんじてのませる つめのあかをせんじてのます |
tsume no aka o senjite nomaseru tsume no aka o senjite nomasu |
| Potential | 爪の垢を煎じて飲める | つめのあかをせんじてのめる | tsume no aka o senjite nomeru |
| Volitional | 爪の垢を煎じて飲もう | つめのあかをせんじてのもう | tsume no aka o senjite nomō |
| Negative | 爪の垢を煎じて飲まない | つめのあかをせんじてのまない | tsume no aka o senjite nomanai |
| Negative continuative | 爪の垢を煎じて飲まず | つめのあかをせんじてのまず | tsume no aka o senjite nomazu |
| Formal | 爪の垢を煎じて飲みます | つめのあかをせんじてのみます | tsume no aka o senjite nomimasu |
| Perfective | 爪の垢を煎じて飲んだ | つめのあかをせんじてのんだ | tsume no aka o senjite nonda |
| Conjunctive | 爪の垢を煎じて飲んで | つめのあかをせんじてのんで | tsume no aka o senjite nonde |
| Hypothetical conditional | 爪の垢を煎じて飲めば | つめのあかをせんじてのめば | tsume no aka o senjite nomeba |
References
- “爪の▲垢を煎じて飲む”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia][1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026