JLPT N5 · Verb

歌う (utau)

歌う (うたう, utau) is a Japanese verb meaning “to sing”. It appears in JLPT N5 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading
うたう
Romaji
utau
Word class
Godan verb (う-verb) ending in う
Level
JLPT N5 (unofficial)

Meaning

  1. to sing · godan verb, transitive, intransitive
  2. to sing of (love, beauty, etc.) in a poem; to express in the form of a poem; to recite (a poem) · godan verb, transitive · esp. 歌う, 詠う

Example sentences

ジョンはステージで何を歌いましたか。
What did John sing on the stage?

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Conjugation of 歌う

Godan verb (う-verb) ending in う. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

FormJapaneseReading
Dictionary歌ううたう utau
Polite (~masu)歌いますうたいます utaimasu
Negative歌わないうたわない utawanai
Polite negative歌いませんうたいません utaimasen
Past歌ったうたった utatta
Polite past歌いましたうたいました utaimashita
Negative past歌わなかったうたわなかった utawanakatta
Te-form歌ってうたって utatte
Potential歌えるうたえる utaeru
Passive歌われるうたわれる utawareru
Causative歌わせるうたわせる utawaseru
Volitional歌おううたおう utaou
Imperative歌えうたえ utae
Conditional (~ba)歌えばうたえば utaeba

Kanji in 歌う

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 歌う.

歌うたsong歌手かしゅsinger歌謡かようsong短歌たんかtanka

Source: JMdict entry 1588120 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.