辿たどり着つく

た

ど

り

つ

く

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

辿り着く · godan verb (-ku)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	辿たどり着つく	辿たどり着つかない
Polite	辿たどり着つきます	辿たどり着つきません
Past polite	辿たどり着つきました	辿たどり着つきませんでした
Past	辿たどり着ついた	辿たどり着つかなかった
Te-form	辿たどり着ついて	辿たどり着つかないで
Desire	辿たどり着つきたい	辿たどり着つきたくない
Potential	辿たどり着つける	辿たどり着つけない
Passive	辿たどり着つかれる	辿たどり着つかれない
Causative	辿たどり着つかせる	辿たどり着つかせない
Causative passive	辿たどり着つかせられるalso 辿たどり着つかされる	辿たどり着つかせられないalso 辿たどり着つかされない
Volitional	辿たどり着つこう
Polite volitional	辿たどり着つきましょう
Imperative	辿たどり着つけ	辿たどり着つくな
Conditional	辿たどり着つけば	辿たどり着つかなければ
Tara conditional	辿たどり着ついたら	辿たどり着つかなかったら

Meanings

godan verb (-ku), intransitive verb

finally arrive at; reach at last; manage to get to

Emphasizes the effort or difficulty of the journey; implies that reaching the destination was not easy or took a long time. Often used for physical locations, but can also be used figuratively for conclusions or realizations.

夜よる遅おそくにようやく山やま小ご屋やに辿たどり着ついた。
We finally arrived at the mountain hut late at night.
何なん度ども計けい算さんを間ま違ちがえたが、やっと正ただしい答こたえに辿たどり着ついた。
I made calculation errors many times, but I finally arrived at the correct answer.

See all 27 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈場ば所しょ〉にたどり着つくto finally reach a place after a difficult journey
何なん時じ間かんも山やま道みちを歩あるいて、ようやく山さん頂ちょうにたどり着ついた。
After walking mountain trails for hours, we finally reached the summit.
〈事こと〉にたどり着つくto finally arrive at a conclusion or answer after much effort
何なん度ども話はなし合あった結けっ果か、ようやく結けつ論ろんにたどり着ついた。
After discussing it many times, we finally arrived at a conclusion.
〈事こと〉の末すえにたどり着つくto finally arrive after a long ordeal or process
長ながい旅たびの末すえに、ようやく目もく的てき地ちにたどり着ついた。
After a long journey, we finally reached our destination.

Kanji

着don, arrive, wear
辿follow (road), pursue

Related words

着つくN5
着く simply means 'to arrive' with no implication of difficulty, while 辿り着く emphasizes the effort or hardship of the journey that led to arriving.
到とう着ちゃくN4
到着する is a formal, neutral word for arrival used in schedules and announcements, whereas 辿り着く is colloquial and highlights the struggle of getting there.
到とう達たつN1
到達する is a formal term for reaching a point or level (often abstract, like a goal or standard), while 辿り着く keeps a stronger sense of hard-won physical or figurative struggle.
行いき着つく
行き着く means to eventually end up somewhere or at some result, often with a neutral or slightly negative nuance, while 辿り着く stresses the effortful process of finally arriving.

Opposites

出しゅっ発ぱつN4
出発する means to depart or set out, the opposite action of 辿り着く, which means to finally arrive after a hard journey.

Don't confuse with

辿たどるN1
辿る means to follow or trace a path/route without necessarily arriving, while 辿り着く adds the sense of finally reaching the destination.

Written forms

辿たどり着つくUsage19%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
たどり着つくUsage46%
Common variant with the first part in kana; often used when the kanji 辿 is considered difficult or less familiar.
たどりつくUsage29%
辿たどりつくUsage7%
search-only kanji form
Search-only form; not a standard spelling but may appear in informal writing or as a typing variant.

Etymology

Compound of 辿る (tadoru, 'to follow, to trace') + 着く (tsuku, 'to arrive'). The verb 辿る implies following a path or clues, often with difficulty, which contributes to the nuance of a hard-won arrival.