振る · godan verb (-ru)
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 振る | 振らない |
| Polite | 振ります | 振りません |
| Past polite | 振りました | 振りませんでした |
| Past | 振った | 振らなかった |
| Te-form | 振って | 振らないで |
| Desire | 振りたい | 振りたくない |
| Potential | 振れる | 振れない |
| Passive | 振られる | 振られない |
| Causative | 振らせる | 振らせない |
| Causative passive | 振らせられるalso 振らされる | 振らせられないalso 振らされない |
| Volitional | 振ろう | |
| Polite volitional | 振りましょう | |
| Imperative | 振れ | 振るな |
| Conditional | 振れば | 振らなければ |
| Tara conditional | 振ったら | 振らなかったら |
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
Basic physical sense: move a hand, head, tail, bat, tool, etc. back and forth or through an arc.
駅で友達に手を振った。
I waved to my friend at the station.
He swung the bat hard, but did not hit the ball.
He silently shook his head no.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
sprinkle; shake on; throw dice
Used when scattering something by a shaking motion, especially seasonings, and also for throwing or rolling dice.
Sprinkle a little salt on the grilled fish.
We rolled dice to decide the order.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
assign; cast; allocate; substitute
Used for giving a role, part, job, slot, or resource to someone or something. It can also imply reassigning or substituting one person, project, or slot for another.
The director cast a new actor in the lead role.
I passed the urgent work on to a coworker.
They reassigned the open slot to another project.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
reject someone; turn down; dump; jilt
Especially common for romantic rejection: turning down a confession, ending a relationship, or dumping a partner. The passive 振られる is very common.
She dumped the partner she had dated for years.
I confessed my feelings, but was flatly turned down.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
throw away; give up; ruin; waste
Most safely learned through the fixed idiom ～を棒に振る, meaning to waste, throw away, or ruin something valuable such as a chance, career, or future.
Do not throw away your future over a stupid bet.
He ruined his career with a single scandal.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
add furigana; add reading kana
Writing and typography use, as in 読み仮名を振る or ルビを振る: add kana beside or above kanji to show how they are read.
See also: ふりがな
Please add reading kana to the difficult kanji.
Because it was a children's book, we added ruby readings to all the kanji.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
turn slightly; shift direction; pan
Used for changing the direction, angle, heading, or orientation of something, often only slightly; common with camera or stage-direction-like contexts.
Pan the camera a little to the right and get the whole building in the shot.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
bring up a topic; direct a question or topic to someone
Common in conversation, meetings, and hosting: introduce a subject or pass the conversational turn, topic, or question to someone.
At the end of the meeting, the manager brought up the budget.
The host directed the next question to the guest.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
carry vigorously; swing while carrying
Festival use, especially with 神輿: the bearers carry and vigorously sway or toss the portable shrine as part of the performance.
The young people at the festival paraded while swinging the portable shrine from side to side.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
set up a joke; feed someone a comic prompt
Comedy and entertainment use: prompt another performer so they can deliver a joke, boke, punch line, or comic response.
He set his partner up for a joke and made the audience laugh.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
decoct; prepare an infusion; extract by heating
Rare or specialized old-style use for extracting something by heating, broiling, or decocting, such as in medicinal or preparation contexts; not a common modern standalone use for learners.
In old medicinal instructions, the expression 薬草を振る can appear with the meaning of decocting herbs.
The dog wagged its tail happily.
We took turns rolling the dice and moving our pieces.
I sprinkled salt on the meat before grilling it.
The section chief assigned the new job to me.
It seems she dumped him.
I added kana readings above the difficult kanji.
I panned the camera slightly to capture the whole scene.
The bearers energetically swayed the portable shrine.
振る (ふる) is a common verb meaning 'to wave' or 'to shake', while ぶる is an unrelated suffix meaning 'to act like' or 'to put on airs'.
turn around; look back; look over one's shoulder · look back on; reflect on; reminisce about
swing; wield (physically); exert · exercise (power); display (ability); wield (metaphorically) · flourish; prosper; thrive
choreography; dance composition; dance coaching
wield; brandish; swing around · show off; flaunt; display arrogantly · abuse (power); throw one's weight around · manipulate; toy with; lead around by the nose
swing and a miss; whiff · punching and missing; failing to make contact · failure; fruitless effort; vain attempt
furikake; rice seasoning
division; distribution; splitting up · carrying two bundles tied together over one's shoulder · hair parted in the middle
practice swing
pendulum
furisode; long-sleeved kimono
turn around; look back; turn one's head
shaking out; sprinkling · starting point; beginning; outset · drawing; issuing; drafting · throw of dice; dice roll · infusion; herbal remedy · shaker; dispenser
gesture; gesticulation; body language
smallish; on the small side; somewhat small · short swing
pretending not to know; feigning ignorance
transfer money; make a bank deposit · discard a winning tile
appearance; dress; one's look
hand gesture; movement of the hand
furigana; small kana printed next to kanji to show pronunciation
raise overhead; brandish; flourish · wield (power, authority); proclaim (principles)
scatter; sprinkle; spray; strew · lavish; spread around; dispense freely
torment; harass; tease · extort; shake down; demand money
allocation; assignment; allotment
shake off; shake free from · swing fully; take a full swing · pull away from; break away from · reject; ignore; brush off
assign; allot; allocate; distribute
somewhat large; on the large side; oversized · big swing; long sweeping stroke
divide in two; split into halves · distribute; apportion; allot
shake off; brush off; ward off