I Love Kanji買う (kau)
買う (かう, kau) is a Japanese verb meaning “to buy; to purchase”. It appears in JLPT N5 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.
- Reading
- かう
- Romaji
- kau
- Word class
- Godan verb (う-verb) ending in う
- Level
- JLPT N5 (unofficial)
Meaning
- to buy; to purchase · godan verb, transitive
- to value (highly); to think highly of; to have a high opinion of; to appreciate; to recognize · godan verb, transitive
- to incur (someone's anger, displeasure, etc.); to elicit (e.g. sneers); to invite (e.g. scorn); to evoke; to arouse · godan verb, transitive
- to accept; to take on; to take up · godan verb, transitive
- to pay for (a prostitute, geisha, etc.) · godan verb, transitive
Example sentences
Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.
Conjugation of 買う
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 | 買う | かう kau |
| Polite (~masu) | 買います | かいます kaimasu |
| Negative | 買わない | かわない kawanai |
| Polite negative | 買いません | かいません kaimasen |
| Past | 買った | かった katta |
| Polite past | 買いました | かいました kaimashita |
| Negative past | 買わなかった | かわなかった kawanakatta |
| Te-form | 買って | かって katte |
| Potential | 買える | かえる kaeru |
| Passive | 買われる | かわれる kawareru |
| Causative | 買わせる | かわせる kawaseru |
| Volitional | 買おう | かおう kaou |
| Imperative | 買え | かえ kae |
| Conditional (~ba) | 買えば | かえば kaeba |
Kanji in 買う
Related words
Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 買う.
Source: JMdict entry 1473740 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.