I Love Kanji突く (tsutsuku)
突く (つつく, tsutsuku) is a Japanese verb meaning “to poke (repeatedly, lightly); to nudge”. It is usually written in kana. It appears in JLPT N1 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.
- Reading
- つつく
- Romaji
- tsutsuku
- Word class
- Godan verb (う-verb) ending in く
- Level
- JLPT N1 (unofficial)
Meaning
- to poke (repeatedly, lightly); to nudge · godan verb, transitive · usually written in kana
- to peck at (one's food); to pick at · godan verb, transitive · usually written in kana
- to peck at (someone's faults, etc.) · godan verb, transitive · usually written in kana
- to egg on; to put up to · godan verb, transitive · usually written in kana
Example sentences
きつつきは、長く尖ったくちばしで、木の幹をつついて、中にいる虫を食べます。
Woodpeckers peck tree trunks with their long pointed beaks and eat insects found there.
Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.
Conjugation of 突く
Godan verb (う-verb) ending in く. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.
| Form | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 突く | つつく tsutsuku |
| Polite (~masu) | 突きます | つつきます tsutsukimasu |
| Negative | 突かない | つつかない tsutsukanai |
| Polite negative | 突きません | つつきません tsutsukimasen |
| Past | 突いた | つついた tsutsuita |
| Polite past | 突きました | つつきました tsutsukimashita |
| Negative past | 突かなかった | つつかなかった tsutsukanakatta |
| Te-form | 突いて | つついて tsutsuite |
| Potential | 突ける | つつける tsutsukeru |
| Passive | 突かれる | つつかれる tsutsukareru |
| Causative | 突かせる | つつかせる tsutsukaseru |
| Volitional | 突こう | つつこう tsutsukou |
| Imperative | 突け | つつけ tsutsuke |
| Conditional (~ba) | 突けば | つつけば tsutsukeba |
Kanji in 突く
Related words
Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 突く.
衝突しょうとつcollision突然とつぜんabrupt煙突えんとつchimney突っ込むつっこむto thrust (something) into (something)突き当たりつきあたりend (of a street, hallway, etc.)突き当たるつきあたるto run into突如とつじょsuddenly突破とっぱbreaking through突っ張るつっぱるto cramp up突っ突くつっつくto poke (repeatedly, lightly)
Source: JMdict entry 1456895 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.