Many wish to increase their vocabulary in the Japanese language, with verbs being one of the main focuses, as they allow us to express actions. There is a simple technique that can triple your Japanese learning called compound verbs.
Compound verbs are simply two verbs that together form a different third verb. Compound verbs in Japanese are called Fukugou doushi [複合動詞] where [複] means double and [合] means to combine.
By studying compound verbs, you learn 3 words at once: the compound verb plus the 2 verbs that make up the compound verb. Studying using compound verbs can enrich your Japanese and even triple the speed of your learning.
Understanding compound verbs in Japanese
There are compound verbs that aim only to express two actions happening at the same time, but there are also verbs that together form a new action that can only be written using this composition of two verbs.
In reality, compound verbs can function in various ways:
- Combination of verbs that express sequential or simultaneous actions;
- The second verb adds a meaning to the first verb;
- The first verb functions as a prefix and modifies the second verb;
- The 2 verbs join to form a new word with a new meaning;
Remember that a compound verb is not necessarily a verb combined with another verb. Sometimes a verb can be composed of a particle, adjective, noun, but those are different cases.
There is no standard used to differentiate the function of these compound verbs; you need to understand the meaning and function of each verb. Some examples of compound verbs are:
- Hashiri-tsuzukeru [走り続ける] which means continue running;
- Yomi-hajimeru [読み始める] which means start reading;
- Hanashi-au [話し合う] which means discuss, converse, and negotiate;
- Omoi-dasu [思い出す] which means remember and recall;
Notice that the first verb usually appears in the form of a noun. For example, if we take hanashi from Hanashi-au, we have the noun conversation which is hanashi [話]. Similarly, omoi [思い] can mean thoughts.
So besides learning 3 verbs at once, we can try to transform the verb into a noun. This is easy because most verbs are conjugated in a form similar to the noun, except in cases like hanashi [話] which appears without the [し] when it is a noun.
A tip to discover the meaning of the compound verb is to paste it into Google Images. Sometimes the dictionary presents so many meanings that we become completely confused; Google Images can help in this regard.
List of compound verbs – Fukugou Doushi
Kuichigau [食い違う] - Disagree, run against, differ, collide, go wrong;
- Kuu [食う] – Eat;
- Chigau [違う] – Differ, is wrong, different;
Kumikomu [組み込む] - Insert; include; incorporate
- Kumu [組む] – Cross, trace, unite;
- Komu [込む] – Crowd, fill, shake, put, dive, continue;
Detekuru [出て来る] - Come out, appear, emerge, come out;
- Deru [出る] – Go out;
- Kuru [来る] – Come;
Ochitsuku [落ち着く] - Calm down, recover, compose oneself, establish;
- Ochite [落ちる] – Fall, decrease, fail;
- Tsuku [着く] – Arrive, sit down, reach;
- Things like coming to oneself, arriving somewhere;
Aogimiru [仰ぎ見る] - respect, look up (sky);
- Aogu [仰ぐ] look up;
- Miru [見る] see;
Aoritateru [煽り立てる] - alarm, worry, stir up;
- Tateru [立てる] – raise, place, lift, push;
- Aoru [煽る] – Fan, instigate, hit;
Naguriau [殴り合う] - Two people punching each other;
- Naguri [殴り] – hit;
- Au [合う] – Unite, merge, combine;
- Literally a meeting of punches;
Atehamete [当てはめて] - Fill in;
- Ate [当あて] – target, purpose;
- Hameru [嵌める] – Insert, place;
Asobiniiku [遊びに行く] - Play outside;
- Asobu [遊ぶ] – Play, game;
- Iku [行く] – Go;
- に – Particle;
- This doesn’t seem to be quite a compound verb since it has a particle, but it’s good to leave as an example.
Perhaps you prefer to examine a site made by NINJAL that shares more than 2759 compound verbs in English, Japanese, and Korean. The sites in question are: db4.ninjal.ac.jp/vvlexicon and nlb.ninjal.ac.jp/headword
I hope these tips help you improve your Japanese. Isn’t it much better to learn several words and verbs at once? If you liked the article, share it and leave your comments.
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