I Love Kanji問う (tou)
問う (とう, tou) is a Japanese verb meaning “to ask; to inquire”. It appears in JLPT N3 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.
- Reading
- とう
- Romaji
- tou
- Word class
- Godan verb (う-verb) ending in う
- Level
- JLPT N3 (unofficial)
Meaning
- to ask; to inquire · godan verb, transitive
- to blame (someone) for; to accuse of; to pursue (question of responsibility); to charge with · godan verb, transitive
- to care about; to regard as important · godan verb, transitive · used in neg. form
- to call into question; to doubt; to question · godan verb, transitive · usu. in passive form
Example sentences
Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.
Conjugation of 問う
Godan verb (う-verb) ending in う. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.
| Form | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 問う | とう tou |
| Polite (~masu) | 問います | といます toimasu |
| Negative | 問わない | とわない towanai |
| Polite negative | 問いません | といません toimasen |
| Past | 問うた | とうた touta |
| Polite past | 問いました | といました toimashita |
| Negative past | 問わなかった | とわなかった towanakatta |
| Te-form | 問うて | とうて toute |
| Potential | 問える | とえる toeru |
| Passive | 問われる | とわれる towareru |
| Causative | 問わせる | とわせる towaseru |
| Volitional | 問おう | とおう toou |
| Imperative | 問え | とえ toe |
| Conditional (~ba) | 問えば | とえば toeba |
Kanji in 問う
Related words
Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 問う.
質問しつもんquestion問題もんだいquestion (e.g. on a test)学問がくもんstudy疑問ぎもんdoubt問いといquestion訪問ほうもんcall問もんcounter for questions問答もんどうquestions and answers問い合わせといあわせinquiry問屋とんやwholesale store問い合わせるといあわせるto enquire
Source: JMdict entry 1536000 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.