道草する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 道草する | 道草しない |
| Polite | 道草します | 道草しません |
| Past polite | 道草しました | 道草しませんでした |
| Past | 道草した | 道草しなかった |
| Te-form | 道草して | 道草しないで |
| Desire | 道草したい | 道草したくない |
| Potential | 道草できる | 道草できない |
| Passive | 道草される | 道草されない |
| Causative | 道草させる | 道草させない |
| Causative passive | 道草させられる | 道草させられない |
| Volitional | 道草しよう | |
| Polite volitional | 道草しましょう | |
| Imperative | 道草しろ | 道草するな |
| Conditional | 道草すれば | 道草しなければ |
| Tara conditional | 道草したら | 道草しなかったら |
noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb
loitering on the way; dawdling en route; making unnecessary stops
Used especially for delaying or wandering around on the way to a destination, as in 道草をする and the fixed expression 道草を食う. It often implies that one should have gone straight home or straight to the destination.
See also: 道草を食う
I dawdled on the way home from school and got home late.
The children are loitering on the way and just won't come home.
wayside grass; grass growing by the road
Literal noun for grass by the roadside. This use is much less common in modern everyday Japanese than the figurative 'loitering' sense.
Dew remained on the wayside grass after the rain.
I dawdled on the way home from school.
I loitered around the park and ended up getting home late.