首が飛ぶ

Japanese

Kanji in this term
くび
Grade: 2

Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [kɯ̟bʲi ɡa̠ to̞bɯ̟]

Verb

(くび)() • (kubi ga tobuintransitive godan (stem (くび)() (kubi ga tobi), past (くび)()んだ (kubi ga tonda))

  1. (idiomatic) be dismissed from employment against one's wishes, be fired or sacked; heads will roll
    • 2025 August 7, “中日春秋”, in 中日新聞 [Chunichi Shimbun], 朝刊(市民版) [Nagoya morning] edition, number 29697, page 1:
      世界一の大国は為政者の気に入らぬ統計が出たら担当者のクビが飛ぶ国に()ちたのか。
      Sekai ichi no ōkoku wa iseisha no ki ni iranu tōkei ga detara tantōsha no kubi ga tobu kuni ni ochita no ka.
      Has the world's greatest power declined into a nation where officials are fired if statistics that the government doesn't like are released?

Conjugation

Conjugation of "首が飛ぶ" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 首が飛ば くびがとば kubi ga toba
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 首が飛び くびがとび kubi ga tobi
Shūshikei ("terminal") 首が飛ぶ くびがとぶ kubi ga tobu
Rentaikei ("attributive") 首が飛ぶ くびがとぶ kubi ga tobu
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 首が飛べ くびがとべ kubi ga tobe
Meireikei ("imperative") 首が飛べ くびがとべ kubi ga tobe
Key constructions
Passive 首が飛ばれる くびがとばれる kubi ga tobareru
Causative 首が飛ばせる
首が飛ばす
くびがとばせる
くびがとばす
kubi ga tobaseru
kubi ga tobasu
Potential 首が飛べる くびがとべる kubi ga toberu
Volitional 首が飛ぼう くびがとぼう kubi ga tobō
Negative 首が飛ばない くびがとばない kubi ga tobanai
Negative continuative 首が飛ばず くびがとばず kubi ga tobazu
Formal 首が飛びます くびがとびます kubi ga tobimasu
Perfective 首が飛んだ くびがとんだ kubi ga tonda
Conjunctive 首が飛んで くびがとんで kubi ga tonde
Hypothetical conditional 首が飛べば くびがとべば kubi ga tobeba