JLPT N1 · Verb

生かす (ikasu)

生かす (いかす, ikasu) is a Japanese verb meaning “to make (the best) use of; to put to good use”. It appears in JLPT N1 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading
いかす
Romaji
ikasu
Word class
Godan verb (う-verb) ending in す
Level
JLPT N1 (unofficial)

Meaning

  1. to make (the best) use of; to put to good use; to leverage (skills, attributes, experience, etc.); to capitalise on (experience, etc.) · godan verb, transitive
  2. to let live; to keep alive · godan verb, transitive
  3. to revive; to resuscitate; to bring back to life · godan verb, transitive
  4. to restore (a deleted passage; in proofreading) · godan verb, transitive

Example sentences

彼はわずかな収入を精一杯活かした。
He made the best of his small income.
自分も生き、他人も生かせ。
Live and let live.
心停止の患者を応急処置で生かした。
We used emergency measures to revive the cardiac arrest patient.

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

Conjugation of 生かす

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

FormJapaneseReading
Dictionary生かすいかす ikasu
Polite (~masu)生かしますいかします ikashimasu
Negative生かさないいかさない ikasanai
Polite negative生かしませんいかしません ikashimasen
Past生かしたいかした ikashita
Polite past生かしましたいかしました ikashimashita
Negative past生かさなかったいかさなかった ikasanakatta
Te-form生かしていかして ikashite
Potential生かせるいかせる ikaseru
Passive生かされるいかされる ikasareru
Causative生かさせるいかさせる ikasaseru
Volitional生かそういかそう ikasou
Imperative生かせいかせ ikase
Conditional (~ba)生かせばいかせば ikaseba

Kanji in 生かす

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 生かす.

Source: JMdict entry 1587070 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.