Translation guide
The English word 'taming' refers to making something wild or unruly more manageable. In Japanese, the expression depends heavily on what is being tamed: animals, people, emotions, or abstract forces.
To domesticate or train a wild animal to be obedient or less dangerous.
The most direct equivalent for taming an animal, implying domestication and training to live with humans.
彼は野生の馬を飼いならした。
He tamed a wild horse.
To tame or win over an animal (or person) through gentle handling, often implying gaining trust.
彼女は警戒心の強い猫を手なずけた。
She tamed the wary cat.
To train or break in an animal, often used for performance or work animals. Can sound technical.
象を調教するのは難しい。
Taming an elephant is difficult.
To make a person obedient, submissive, or less wild in behavior, often through discipline or charm.
Used for people as well as animals, implying winning someone over or making them manageable.
彼は反抗的な生徒を手なずけた。
He tamed the rebellious student.
Can be used metaphorically for people, but may sound dehumanizing or humorous.
Using 飼いならす for people can be offensive or jocular; 手なずける is safer.
To win over or placate someone, often in political or strategic contexts. Implies taming through persuasion.
政府は反対派を懐柔しようとした。
The government tried to tame the opposition.
To control or suppress one's own feelings, urges, or wild thoughts.
To suppress or hold back emotions or desires. Very common and natural.
怒りを抑えるのは大切だ。
Taming your anger is important.
To control or regulate something, often used for emotions or impulses in a more formal or technical sense.
感情を制御する方法を学ぶ。
Learn to tame your emotions.
Metaphorically taming emotions as if they were wild animals. Poetic or literary.
To bring something wild or powerful under control, like fire, rivers, or chaos.
To control or harness natural forces or abstract concepts.
人間は火を制御することを学んだ。
Humans learned to tame fire.
To overcome or conquer something difficult, like a wild environment or challenge.
彼らは大自然を克服しようとした。
They tried to tame the wilderness.
Rare, literary term for taming or pacifying something wild, including natural forces.
Using 飼いならす for people can sound like you are treating them as animals. Use 手なずける or rephrase with 制御する/抑える depending on context.
飼いならす focuses on domestication and training, often for utility. 手なずける emphasizes gaining trust and making something docile through gentle handling, and is more flexible for people and animals.
野生の馬を飼いならすには忍耐が必要だ。
Taming a wild horse takes patience.
彼女は彼の荒々しい心を手なずけた。
She tamed his wild heart.
It's like she tamed him.
彼は自分の恐怖を手なずけた。
He tamed his fear.
嵐を手懐けることはできない。
You cannot tame a storm.