覚える

Japanese
Kanji in this term
覚
おぼ
Grade: 4
kun’yomi
Alternative spellings
覺える (kyūjitai)
憶える

Etymology

/omo2pu/ → /omwopoju/ → /omwoɸoju/ → /omoɸoju/ → /oboɸoju/ → /oboju/ → /obojuru/ → /obojeru/ → /oboeru/

Ultimately from Old Japanese verb 思ふ (omopu, modern 思う omou, “to think (about or of something)”).[1][2] The historical derivation is roughly as follows:

omopayu → omopoyu
The 思ほゆ (omopoyu) form is found in the Nihon Shoki and the Man'yōshū.
omopoyu → omofoyu → obowoyu → oboyu
This change is already evident by the early Heian period.
  • regular historical grammatical shifts occurring for classical 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs:
oboyu → oboyuru → oboyeru → oboeru
This set of shifts occurred during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.

The verb was originally used in intransitive and passive contexts, in accordance with its derivation. It began to be used in more active and transitive contexts starting from roughly the mid-Heian period, with the learn and memorize senses appearing in the Kamakura period.[1]

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) おぼえ​る [òbóéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])[2]
  • IPA(key): [o̞bo̞e̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]
  • Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "覚える"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形)
Attributive (連体形)		 覚える おぼえ​る [òbóéꜜrù]
Imperative (命令形) 覚えろ おぼえ​ろ [òbóéꜜrò]
Key constructions
Passive 覚えられる おぼえられ​る [òbóéráréꜜrù]
Causative 覚えさせる おぼえさせ​る [òbóésáséꜜrù]
Potential 覚えられる おぼえられ​る [òbóéráréꜜrù]
Volitional 覚えよう おぼえよ​ー [òbóéyóꜜò]
Negative 覚えない おぼえ​ない [òbóéꜜnàì]
Negative perfective 覚えなかった おぼえ​なかった [òbóéꜜnàkàttà]
Formal 覚えます おぼえま​す [òbóémáꜜsù]
Perfective 覚えた おぼ​えた [òbóꜜètà]
Conjunctive 覚えて おぼ​えて [òbóꜜètè]
Hypothetical conditional 覚えれば おぼえ​れば [òbóéꜜrèbà]

Verb

覚(おぼ)える • (oboeru) transitive ichidan (stem 覚(おぼ)え (oboe), past 覚(おぼ)えた (oboeta))

  1. 覚える, 憶える: to recall, to remember
  2. 覚える: to learn
    料理(りょうり)を覚(おぼ)える
    ryōri o oboeru
    to learn to cook
  3. 覚える, 憶える: to memorize
    歌(か)詞(し)を覚(おぼ)える
    kashi o oboeru
    to memorize lyrics
  4. 覚える: to feel (an emotion or sense)
    違(い)和(わ)感(かん)を覚(おぼ)える
    iwakan o oboeru
    to get the sense that something is off

Conjugation
Conjugation of "覚える" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 覚え おぼえ oboe
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 覚え おぼえ oboe
Shūshikei ("terminal") 覚える おぼえる oboeru
Rentaikei ("attributive") 覚える おぼえる oboeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 覚えれ おぼえれ oboere
Meireikei ("imperative") 覚えよ¹
覚えろ²		 おぼえよ¹
おぼえろ²		 oboeyo¹
oboero²
Key constructions
Passive 覚えられる おぼえられる oboerareru
Causative 覚えさせる
覚えさす		 おぼえさせる
おぼえさす		 oboesaseru
oboesasu
Potential 覚えられる
覚えれる³		 おぼえられる
おぼえれる³		 oboerareru
oboereru³
Volitional 覚えよう おぼえよう oboeyō
Negative 覚えない
覚えぬ
覚えん		 おぼえない
おぼえぬ
おぼえん		 oboenai
oboenu
oboen
Negative continuative 覚えず おぼえず oboezu
Formal 覚えます おぼえます oboemasu
Perfective 覚えた おぼえた oboeta
Conjunctive 覚えて おぼえて oboete
Hypothetical conditional 覚えれば おぼえれば oboereba
¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential

Synonyms

Antonyms

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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