仕える

Japanese

Kanji in this term
仕
つか Grade: 3
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
事える (rare)

Etymology

/tukapu/ → /t͡sukafu/ → /t͡sukafuru/ → /t͡sukaferu/ → /t͡sukaeru/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū of 759.^[1]

Cognate with 使う (tsukau, ancient tsukapu; “to use”), and derived via regular historical processes from the 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjgation”) verb paradigm from this same root form.

Development

Natural progression from Old and Classical Japanese 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs ending in -u to modern Japanese 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”) verbs ending in -eru.

While the 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”) pattern for tsukau was used to refer to the action of a superior to a subordinate, the shimo nidan conjugation pattern was used to refer to the action of a subordinate to a superior.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) つかえる [tsùkáéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])^[2]
(Tokyo) つかえる [tsùkáérú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
IPA^(key): [t͡sɨka̠e̞ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 仕える

Plain	仕える	つかえるつかえるつかえる	`[tsùkáéꜜrù]` `[tsùkáꜜèrù]` `[tsùkáérú]`
Conjunctive	仕えて	つかえてつかえて	`[tsùkáꜜètè]` `[tsùkáété]`
Perfective	仕えた	つかえたつかえた	`[tsùkáꜜètà]` `[tsùkáétá]`
Negative	仕えない	つかえないつかえない	`[tsùkáéꜜnàì]` `[tsùkáénáí]`
Negative perfective	仕えなかった	つかえなかったつかえなかった	`[tsùkáéꜜnàkàttà]` `[tsùkáénáꜜkàttà]`
Hypothetical conditional	仕えれば	つかえればつかえればつかえれば	`[tsùkáéꜜrèbà]` `[tsùkáꜜèrèbà]` `[tsùkáéréꜜbà]`
Past conditional	仕えたら	つかえたらつかえたら	`[tsùkáꜜètàrà]` `[tsùkáétáꜜrà]`
Imperative	仕えろ仕えよ	つかえろつかえろつかえろつかえよつかえよ	`[tsùkáéꜜrò]` `[tsùkáꜜèrò]` `[tsùkáéró]` `[tsùkáéꜜyò]` `[tsùkáꜜèyò]`
Volitional	仕えよう	つかえよー	`[tsùkáéyóꜜò]`
Desiderative	仕えたい	つかえたいつかえたい	`[tsùkáétáꜜì]` `[tsùkáétáí]`
Formal	仕えます	つかえます	`[tsùkáémáꜜsù]`
Formal negative	仕えません	つかえません	`[tsùkáémáséꜜǹ]`
Formal volitional	仕えましょう	つかえましょー	`[tsùkáémáshóꜜò]`
Formal perfective	仕えました	つかえました	`[tsùkáémáꜜshìtà]`
Continuative	仕え仕えに	つかえつかえつかえにつかえに	`[tsùkáꜜè]` `[tsùkáé]` `[tsùkáꜜè nì]` `[tsùkáé ní]`
Negative continuative	仕えず仕えずに	つかえずつかえずつかえずにつかえずに	`[tsùkáéꜜzù]` `[tsùkáézú]` `[tsùkáéꜜzù nì]` `[tsùkáézú ní]`
Passive	仕えられる	つかえられるつかえられる	`[tsùkáéráréꜜrù]` `[tsùkáérárérú]`
Causative	仕えさせる仕えさす	つかえさせるつかえさせるつかえさすつかえさす	`[tsùkáésáséꜜrù]` `[tsùkáésásérú]` `[tsùkáésáꜜsù]` `[tsùkáésású]`
Potential	仕えられる仕えれる	つかえられるつかえられるつかえれるつかえれる	`[tsùkáéráréꜜrù]` `[tsùkáérárérú]` `[tsùkáéréꜜrù]` `[tsùkáérérú]`

Verb

仕(つか)える • (tsukaeru) ^{←つかへる (tukaferu)^?}intransitive ichidan (stem 仕(つか)え (tsukae), past 仕(つか)えた (tsukaeta))

Japanese verb pair
active	使う
mediopassive	仕える

to serve, serve under, take service under
to enter public service

Usage notes

This verb is intransitive. What would be translated as the object of this verb in English is marked by に (ni) in Japanese. Examples:

最(もっと)も高(たか)い目(もく)的(てき)に仕(つか)える
motto mo takai mokuteki ni tsukaeru
to be useful to the highest purpose → to serve the highest purpose
この数(すう)年(ねん)間(かん)、父(ちち)母(はは)に仕(つか)えている。
Kono sūnenkan, chichihaha ni tsukaeteiru.
I have been being useful to my parents for several years now. → I have been taking care of my parents for several years now.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "仕える" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	仕え	つかえ	tsukae
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	仕え	つかえ	tsukae
Shūshikei ("terminal")	仕える	つかえる	tsukaeru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	仕える	つかえる	tsukaeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	仕えれ	つかえれ	tsukaere
Meireikei ("imperative")	仕えよ¹ 仕えろ²	つかえよ¹ つかえろ²	tsukaeyo¹ tsukaero²
Key constructions
Passive	仕えられる	つかえられる	tsukaerareru
Causative	仕えさせる仕えさす	つかえさせるつかえさす	tsukaesaseru tsukaesasu
Potential	仕えられる仕えれる³	つかえられるつかえれる³	tsukaerareru tsukaereru³
Volitional	仕えよう	つかえよう	tsukaeyō
Negative	仕えない仕えぬ仕えん	つかえないつかえぬつかえん	tsukaenai tsukaenu tsukaen
Negative continuative	仕えず	つかえず	tsukaezu
Formal	仕えます	つかえます	tsukaemasu
Perfective	仕えた	つかえた	tsukaeta
Conjunctive	仕えて	つかえて	tsukaete
Hypothetical conditional	仕えれば	つかえれば	tsukaereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Synonyms

(serve, serve under): 奉(ほう)仕(し)する (hōshi suru); 奉(ぶ)仕(し)する (bushi suru)
(enter public service): 仕(し)官(かん)する (shikan suru)

Derived terms

神(かみ)に仕(つか)える (kami ni tsukaeru) serve God
主(しゅ)人(じん)に仕(つか)える (shujin ni tsukaeru): serve a master, serve an employer faithfully
二(に)君(くん)に仕(つか)える (nikun ni tsukaeru): serve two masters
すまじきものは宮(みや)仕(づか)え (sumajiki mono wa miyazukae): it is better to work for oneself than to work for someone else

Derived terms

仕(つか)え女(め) (tsukaeme): maidservant
仕(つか)え奉(まつ)る (tsukaematsuru): to serve; to build something as commanded
側(そば)仕(づか)え (sobazukae): personal attendant, valet, maid
宮(みや)仕(づか)え (miyazukae): service to the royal court; public service, company employment
兼(か)ね仕(つか)える (kanetsukaeru): to serve multiple masters or causes at the same time

Related terms

Homophones deriving from the root つく (tsuku)

使(つか)える (tsukaeru): to be useful, to be capable of being used
支(つか)える (tsukaeru), 閊(つか)える (tsukaeru): to become clogged, blocked, stopped-up

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

“仕える”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

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