拾う
拾う · godan verb (-u)
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 拾う | 拾わない |
| Polite | 拾います | 拾いません |
| Past polite | 拾いました | 拾いませんでした |
| Past | 拾った | 拾わなかった |
| Te-form | 拾って | 拾わないで |
| Desire | 拾いたい | 拾いたくない |
| Potential | 拾える | 拾えない |
| Passive | 拾われる | 拾われない |
| Causative | 拾わせる | 拾わせない |
| Causative passive | 拾わせられるalso 拾わされる | 拾わせられないalso 拾わされない |
| Volitional | 拾おう | |
| Polite volitional | 拾いましょう | |
| Imperative | 拾え | 拾うな |
| Conditional | 拾えば | 拾わなければ |
| Tara conditional | 拾ったら | 拾わなかったら |
Meanings
godan verb (-u), transitive verb
pick up; gather; find and pick up
The basic physical sense: pick something up from the ground or gather items one by one. It commonly includes finding something that someone dropped or lost.
I picked up a wallet that had been dropped on the road.
The children were gathering shells on the beach.
godan verb (-u), transitive verb
Used for picking out particular items, words, information, or points from a larger set, often selectively rather than exhaustively.
I picked out only the important figures from the report.
godan verb (-u), transitive verb
get unexpectedly; snatch a win; pull off
Figurative use for gaining something unexpectedly, especially luck, an opportunity, or a victory that one barely manages to obtain.
Helped by the opponent's mistake, we somehow snatched a win.
godan verb (-u), transitive verb
pick someone up; collect someone by car
Used when a driver stops somewhere to collect a person, usually in a car or similar vehicle.
I picked up my friend at the station and then headed to the venue.
godan verb (-u), transitive verb
hail; flag down
Most common with タクシー: to find, hail, or catch a taxi on the street.
Because the rain got heavy, I hailed a taxi on the main street.
godan verb (-u), transitive verb
pick up a signal; pick up sound; receive interference
Used for devices or systems capturing sound, radio waves, signals, noise, or interference, sometimes unintentionally.
This microphone picks up surrounding sounds very easily.
godan verb (-u), transitive verb
return a difficult shot; just manage to get the ball
Sports use, especially in ball games: to reach and return, dig, or save a difficult ball rather than letting it go.
The libero dug up the opponent's hard spike.
godan verb (-u), transitive verb
take someone in; give someone a job; take on someone in need
Figurative use for accepting or helping someone who is in a difficult position, often by hiring them or giving them a place to belong.
After the company went bankrupt, my former boss took me on.
godan verb (-u), transitive verb
Rare or old-fashioned use meaning to go on foot; in ordinary modern Japanese, 歩く or 徒歩で行く is the normal wording.
In older usage, 拾う can be used to mean 'to go on foot.'
Usage patterns· 8
- 〈物〉を拾うto pick something up off the ground
I picked up a coin on the roadside.
- 〈事〉を拾うto pick out a point, word, or detail from a larger set
He picked out the important opinions from the meeting minutes.
- 勝ちを拾うto scrape out a win
It was a tough match, but we somehow managed to scrape out a win.
- 〈人〉を拾うto pick someone up (in a car)
I picked up my friend at the station before heading to the restaurant.
- タクシーを拾うto hail a taxi
I managed to hail a taxi in the rain.
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- 電波を拾うto pick up a signal or radio wave
This radio can pick up a signal even in the mountains.
- 球を拾うto dig out and return a difficult ball
She dug out the tricky ball and kept the rally going.
- 〈人〉を拾ってやるto take someone in, giving them a job or place
The company president took him in after he lost his job.
Expressions
- 命を拾うnarrowly escape death; have a close call with death
- 年を拾うgrow old; get on in years
- 骨を拾うcollect the ashes of the deceased · look after someone's affairs after their death
- 火中の栗を拾うpull someone's chestnuts out of the fire; take a risk for someone else's benefit
- 捨てる神あれば拾う神ありwhen one door shuts, another opens; there are gods that abandon you and gods that pick you up