戻る (もどる, modoru) Japanese meaning: return | Kotomora

戻もどる

も

ど

る

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 1,000

戻る · godan verb (-ru)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	戻もどる	戻もどらない
Polite	戻もどります	戻もどりません
Past polite	戻もどりました	戻もどりませんでした
Past	戻もどった	戻もどらなかった
Te-form	戻もどって	戻もどらないで
Desire	戻もどりたい	戻もどりたくない
Potential	戻もどれる	戻もどれない
Passive	戻もどられる	戻もどられない
Causative	戻もどらせる	戻もどらせない
Causative passive	戻もどらせられるalso 戻もどらされる	戻もどらせられないalso 戻もどらされない
Volitional	戻もどろう
Polite volitional	戻もどりましょう
Imperative	戻もどれ	戻もどるな
Conditional	戻もどれば	戻もどらなければ
Tara conditional	戻もどったら	戻もどらなかったら

Pairs with戻す

Meanings

godan verb (-ru), intransitive verb

return; go back; turn back

General intransitive movement back to a previous place, state, or direction. Sense 1 (turn back halfway) is a specific case of returning before reaching a destination.

忘わすれ物ものをし

Kanji

戻re-, return, revert

Transitive / intransitive

戻もどすN4sense 1
戻す is the transitive partner of 戻る: 戻す means to put something back, while 戻る means something goes back by itself.

Related words

帰かえるN5sense 1
帰る specifically means to return home or to one's base, while 戻る can describe returning to any previous place, state, or position.
引ひき返かえすN2sense 1
引き返す emphasizes turning back midway before reaching a destination, a narrower case of the more general 戻る.
返かえるN2
返る is a more literary or formal word for something returning to its original owner or state, overlapping with 戻る's sense of things coming back.
折おり返かえすN1
戻る is intransitive and simply means to return to a place, while 折り返す is transitive and emphasizes turning back midway on a route or in a call.
リターン
戻る is the everyday native verb for something going back to its original place, while リターン is a loanword often used in more formal or technical contexts like sports and finance.

Opposites

進すすむN4sense 1
進む means to advance or move forward, the opposite direction from 戻る's meaning of going back.

Don't confuse with

直なおるN4sense 2
直る means something is fixed or corrected, whereas 戻る means something goes back to its earlier position or state, which can sound similar but is not the same process.

Word family· 15

逆ぎゃく戻もどり
retrogression; reversal; relapse; doubling back; backtracking
後あと戻もどりN1
going back; turning back; backtracking · regression; relapse; returning to a bad state
舞まい戻もどる
come back; return
立たち

Written forms

戻もどるUsage85%
Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
もどるUsage15%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the intended nuance is simple return or recovery.

Etymology

The kanji 戻 is composed of 戸 (door) and 大 (big), but the historical derivation is uncertain. The verb もどる is a native Japanese word.

戻もどる

Meanings

Usage patterns

Expressions