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言い聞かせる (iikikaseru) Japanese meaning: tell | Kotomora
JLPT N1 › Freq. Frequency Top 50,000 Conjugation 言い聞かせる · ichidan verb
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 言い い 聞き かせる 言い い 聞き かせない Polite 言い い 聞き かせます 言い い 聞き かせません Past polite 言い い 聞き かせました 言い い 聞き かせませんでした Past 言い い 聞き かせた 言い い 聞き かせなかった Te-form 言い い 聞き かせて 言い い 聞き かせないで Desire 言い い 聞き かせたい 言い い 聞き かせたくない Potential 言い い 聞き かせられる also 言い い 聞き かせれる 言い い 聞き かせられない also 言い い 聞き かせれない Passive 言い い 聞き かせられる 言い い 聞き かせられない Causative 言い い 聞き かせさせる 言い い 聞き かせさせない Causative passive 言い い 聞き かせさせられる 言い い 聞き かせさせられない Volitional 言い い 聞き かせよう Polite volitional 言い い 聞き かせましょう Imperative 言い い 聞き かせろ 言い い 聞き かせるな Conditional 言い い 聞き かせれば 言い い 聞き かせなければ Tara conditional 言い い 聞き かせたら 言い い 聞き かせなかったら
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子こ
供ども
に
危き
険けん
な
場ば
所しょ
に
は
近ちか
づか
ない
よう
に
言い
い
聞き
かせ
た
。
I told my child not to go near dangerous places.
He explained the benefits of studying abroad to his friend and persuaded him to go together.
Usage patterns 〈 人ひと 〉 に 〈 事こと 〉 を 言い い 聞き かせる to explain/tell something to someone (to make them understand or behave)
The mother told her child that they must not tell lies.
自じ 分ぶん に 言い い 聞き かせる to tell oneself something (to reassure or convince oneself)
I told myself that everything would be okay.
〈 人ひと 〉 に 〈 動どう 詞し 〉 ように 言い い 聞き かせる to tell/instruct someone to do something
I told my little brother to go to bed early.
Related words 説得する focuses on logical persuasion to change someone's mind, while 言い聞かせる emphasizes patient explanation, often with emotional or moral weight.
諭す is a slightly literary word for giving wise, moral guidance, while 言い聞かせる is the more everyday word for patiently explaining something so someone accepts it.
注意する is a general warning or caution, often about immediate danger or mistakes; 言い聞かせる implies a deeper, more instructive approach.
言い聞かせる specifically means to reason with or admonish someone so they understand, overlapping with the 言って聞かす pattern of 聞かす.
Don't confuse with 聞かせる just means to let someone hear something (like a story or song), while 言い聞かせる specifically means to explain or persuade so the listener understands and accepts.
言い聞かせる means to explain or reason with someone to persuade them, whereas 言いつける means to order someone or to tell on someone, so learners should not confuse the two despite the similar 言い〜 form.
言い聞かせる means to persuade or admonish someone gently, unlike 言い渡す, which is a one-sided, formal pronouncement of a decision.
Written forms 言い い 聞き かせる Usage 76%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
言い いきかせる Usage 13%
Mixed kana spelling; sometimes used for readability or when the second kanji is less familiar.
いいきかせる Usage 11%
言いい 聞き かせる
Abbreviated kanji form; less common and may be seen in older texts.
Etymology Compound of 言い (continuative form of 言う 'to say') + 聞かせる (causative of 聞く 'to listen'), literally 'to make someone listen to what one says'.
