Translation guide
How to express the idea of encouraging, urging, or driving someone to action in Japanese.
I gave my friend a push and encouraged them to study abroad.
A general verb meaning to encourage, cheer up, or inspire someone. Suitable for both emotional support and motivating action.
I encouraged him when he was feeling down.
Means to support or back someone up, often from behind the scenes. Slightly more formal than 背中を押す.
The government is backing new businesses.
A formal, somewhat literary word meaning to inspire or rouse someone's spirits. Often used in speeches or writing.
His speech inspired the audience.
To prod someone into moving faster or taking immediate action, sometimes with a sense of impatience.
To rush or hurry someone, often verbally. Can be used in daily situations like telling someone to hurry up.
I hurried the child off to school.
To urge or prompt someone to do something, often politely or indirectly. Common in business or formal contexts.
Literally 'slap someone's bottom', this is a colloquial and slightly rough way to say you are pushing someone to work harder or get moving.
To spur someone on in a way that might be aggressive, manipulative, or inciting, sometimes leading to conflict.
To drive or impel someone strongly, often by an inner force or external pressure. Can be used for ambition, curiosity, or negative urges.
Driven by curiosity, he entered the cave.
To incite, stir up, or agitate someone. Often used for provoking emotions or actions, sometimes with a negative connotation.
To tempt or entice someone into doing something bad or unwise. Implies manipulation.
Both mean to support or encourage, but 背中を押す is more personal and emotional, like giving a friend a push. 後押しする is often used for institutional or financial backing.
My parents gave me a push (emotionally).
The bank backed them with a loan.
Avoid directly translating 'spurring on' as 拍車をかける (to spur a horse) unless you mean to accelerate a process or trend. For encouraging a person, use the options above.
上司に決断を促した。
I urged my boss to make a decision.
He's slacking off, so I need to light a fire under him.
彼は観客を煽って、騒ぎを大きくした。
He stirred up the crowd and made the disturbance worse.
I was egged on by a friend and ended up shoplifting.