I Love Kanji言う (iu)
言う (いう, iu) is a Japanese verb meaning “to say; to utter”. It appears in JLPT N5 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.
- Reading
- いう
- Romaji
- iu
- Word class
- Godan verb (う-verb) ending in う
- Level
- JLPT N5 (unofficial)
Meaning
- to say; to utter; to declare · godan verb, transitive
- to name; to call · godan verb, transitive
- to go (e.g. "the alarm went ping"); to make a noise · godan verb, intransitive
Example sentences
Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.
Conjugation of 言う
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 | 言う | いう iu |
| Polite (~masu) | 言います | いいます iimasu |
| Negative | 言わない | いわない iwanai |
| Polite negative | 言いません | いいません iimasen |
| Past | 言った | いった itta |
| Polite past | 言いました | いいました iimashita |
| Negative past | 言わなかった | いわなかった iwanakatta |
| Te-form | 言って | いって itte |
| Potential | 言える | いえる ieru |
| Passive | 言われる | いわれる iwareru |
| Causative | 言わせる | いわせる iwaseru |
| Volitional | 言おう | いおう iou |
| Imperative | 言え | いえ ie |
| Conditional (~ba) | 言えば | いえば ieba |
Kanji in 言う
Related words
Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 言う.
言葉ことばlanguage言語げんごlanguage一言ひとことsingle word伝言でんごん(verbal) message言わばいわばso to speak方言ほうげんdialect独り言ひとりごとsoliloquy言い出すいいだすto begin to say言葉遣いことばづかいspeech言付けることづけるto have someone send (a message, parcel, etc.)言い付けるいいつけるto tell (to do)言論げんろん(one's) speech証言しょうげんtestimony助言じょげんadvice
Source: JMdict entry 1587040 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.