いる

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
居る

/wiru/ → /iru/

From Old Japanese. Found in the Nihon Shoki, completed around 720 CE.[1] from Proto-Japonic *wu.

Pronunciation

  • Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "居る"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形)
Attributive (連体形)
居る いる [ìrú]
Imperative (命令形) 居ろ いろ [ìró]
Key constructions
Passive 居られる いられる [ìrárérú]
Causative 居させる いさせる [ìsásérú]
Potential 居られる いられる [ìrárérú]
Volitional 居よう いよ​ー [ìyóꜜò]
Negative 居ない いない [ìnáí]
Negative perfective 居なかった いな​かった [ìnáꜜkàttà]
Formal 居ます いま​す [ìmáꜜsù]
Perfective 居た いた [ìtá]
Conjunctive 居て いて [ìté]
Hypothetical conditional 居れば いれ​ば [ìréꜜbà]

Verb

いる • (iru) ←ゐる (wiru)?intransitive ichidan (stem い (i), past いた (ita))

  1. (of animate objects) to exist, to be
    鈴(すず)木(き)ですが、田(た)中(なか)さんいますか?
    Suzuki desu ga, Tanaka-san imasu ka?
    This is Suzuki calling; may I speak to Tanaka?
    (literally, “[This] is Suzuki; is Tanaka present?”)
    あなたがいないと何(なに)もできない
    anata ga inai to nani mo dekinai
    I can't do anything if you aren't here/there
    君(きみ)がいた夏(なつ)
    kimi ga ita natsu
    the summer you were there [with me; by my side]
    君(きみ)といた夏(なつ)
    kimi to ita natsu
    the summer [I] was with you
  2. (of animate objects) to have
    彼(かれ)氏(し)いますか?
    Kareshi imasu ka?
    Do you have a boyfriend?
  3. Used as a 補助動詞 (hojo dōshi), after a verb in the て (-te) conjunctive form. Note that ている (-te iru) colloquially shortens to てる (-teru), ていた (-te ita) colloquially shortens to てた (-teta), etc.
    1. Indicates a progressive or continuative tense: to be doing
      朝(あさ)ご飯(はん)を食(た)べていますか?
      Asagohan o tabete imasu ka?
      Are you eating breakfast [now]?
      黙(だま)っていられるもんか!
      Damatte irareru mon ka!
      Like hell this is something I can silently let pass!
      (literally, “Is this something that I can be quiet about!?”)
      何(なに)もしてねーって。
      Nani mo shitenē tte.
      I'm telling you, I haven't done anything.
      子(こ)供(ども)が遊(あそ)んでいる。
      Kodomo ga asonde iru.
      The children are playing.
    2. Indicates a regular, repetitive action.
      朝(あさ)ご飯(はん)を食(た)べていますか?
      Asagohan o tabete imasu ka?
      Are you eating breakfast these days?
      This is equivalent to using the simple non-past form of verbs (e.g. 食べますか (tabemasu ka) = 食べていますか (tabete imasu ka)).
    3. Indicates a state resulting from the action.
      壁(かべ)には絵(え)がかかっている。
      Kabe ni wa e ga kakatte iru.
      There is a picture hanging on the wall.
      豚(ぶた)が肥(こ)えている。
      Buta ga koete iru.
      The pig is fat.
  4. (obsolete) to sit
    • c. late 9th–mid-10th century, Taketori Monogatari
      それを見(み)れば、三(さん)寸(すん)ばかりなる人(ひと)いと美(うつく)しうて居(ゐ)たり。
      Sore wo mireba, sansun bakari naru fito ito utukusiute witari (Classical pronunciation)
      Sore o mireba, sansun bakari naru hito ito utsukushūte itari. (modern pronunciation)
      When he looked at it, there sat a very lovely human being about three sun long.
Conjugation

Synonyms
  • (dialectal) おる (oru)
  • ある (aru, “of inanimate objects: to be”)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of いる – see the following entries.
【要る】
[verb] to be necessary, to need
【煎る】
[verb] fry, broil
Alternative spellings
炒る, 熬る
【入る】
[verb] [from 759] to go in; to come in
[verb] [from 900s] 要る: to be necessary, to be required
[verb] to put something into something else
Alternative spelling
要る
【鋳る】
[verb] cast, mint
【射る】
[verb] shoot
[verb] (rare) shoot
【率る】
[verb] To take along with
Alternative spelling
将る
(This term, いる, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as いる, see Category:Japanese kanji read as いる.)

(The following entries are uncreated: 沃る, 將る.)

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
  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), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
  4. Uwano, Zendo (2002 October 31) “見島方言の用言のアクセント調査報告 [A Report on the Accentual Surveys of Verbs and Adjectives in the Mishima Dialect]”, in 環太平洋の「消滅に瀕した言語」にかんする緊急調査研究 [Endangered languages of the Pacific Rim]‎, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 September 2022
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