明かす (あかす, akasu) Japanese meaning: pass the night | Kotomora

明あかす

あ

か

す

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

明かす · godan verb (-su)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	明あかす	明あかさない
Polite	明あかします	明あかしません
Past polite	明あかしました	明あかしませんでした
Past	明あかした	明あかさなかった
Te-form	明あかして	明あかさないで
Desire	明あかしたい	明あかしたくない
Potential	明あかせる	明あかせない
Passive	明あかされる	明あかされない
Causative	明あかさせる	明あかさせない
Causative passive	明あかさせられる	明あかさせられない
Volitional	明あかそう
Polite volitional	明あかしましょう
Imperative	明あかせ	明あかすな
Conditional	明あかせば	明あかさなければ
Tara conditional	明あかしたら	明あかさなかったら

Meanings

godan verb (-su), transitive verb

pass the night; spend the night

Used for spending the entire night doing something, often with verbs like 語る, 飲む, or 遊ぶ. The night is passed while engaged in an activity.

Kanji

明bright, light

Related words· 6

打うち明あけるN2sense 2
打ち明ける is used for confiding a secret or feeling to someone personally, while 明かす is more formal and can apply to facts revealed publicly as well as privately.
暴ばく露ろN1sense 2
暴露する carries a negative, scandal-exposing nuance (often against someone's will), whereas 明かす is neutral and can describe a willing disclosure.
徹てつ夜やN3sense 1
徹夜する simply means staying awake all night (often for work or study), while 明かす focuses on the activity that fills the night, like talking or drinking.
証しょう明めいN3sense 3
証明する is the common, everyday word for proving something with evidence, while 明かす in this sense is rarer and more literary.

Show 2 more

名な乗のる
明かす means to reveal a fact or secret in general, while 名乗る specifically means to reveal one's own hidden identity or name.
暴あばく
明かす means to reveal or disclose in a general sense, such as telling a story or revealing one's identity, while 暴く specifically implies uncovering something hidden, often wrongdoing, with a confrontational nuance.

Opposites

隠かくすN3sense 2
隠す means to hide or conceal something, the direct opposite of 明かす's meaning of revealing or disclosing it.

Don't confuse with

開あけるN5
明ける is intransitive and means 'to dawn' or 'for a period to end', while 明かす is transitive and means to spend a night or to reveal something.

Word family· 12

解とき明あかす
uncover; solve; reveal
種たね明あかし
revealing how a trick is done · disclosure of a secret; exposure; explanation
夜よ明あかし
staying up all night; all-night vigil
御み明あかし
sacred lamp; offering light

Written forms

明あかすUsage92%
Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
あかすUsage8%

Etymology

Derived from the transitive form of 明く (aku, 'to open; to become bright'), with the underlying idea of making something clear or bringing it to light. The 'spend the night' sense developed from the notion of making the night pass until dawn.

明あかす

Meanings

Usage patterns

Expressions