覚える

Japanese

Kanji in this term
覚
おぼ Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
覺える (kyūjitai) 憶える

Etymology

/omo₂pu/ → /omwopoju/ → /omwoɸoju/ → /omoɸoju/ → /oboɸoju/ → /oboju/ → /obojuru/ → /obojeru/ → /oboeru/

Ultimately from Old Japanese verb 思ふ (omopu, modern 思う omou, “to think (about or of something)”).^[1]^[2] The historical derivation is roughly as follows:

the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis form”) omopa of Old Japanese verb 思ふ (omopu, “think”, modern 思う omou) + ゆ (yu, Old Japanese verb suffix denoting intransitive, spontaneous, or passive action):

omopayu → omopoyu

The 思ほゆ (omopoyu) form is found in the Nihon Shoki and the Man'yōshū.

contraction and regular sound changes:

omopoyu → omofoyu → obowoyu → oboyu

This change is already evident by the early Heian period.

regular historical grammatical shifts occurring for classical 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs:

oboyu → oboyuru → oboyeru → oboeru

This set of shifts occurred during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.

The verb was originally used in intransitive and passive contexts, in accordance with its derivation. It began to be used in more active and transitive contexts starting from roughly the mid-Heian period, with the learn and memorize senses appearing in the Kamakura period.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) おぼえる [òbóéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])^[2]
IPA^(key): [o̞bo̞e̞ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 覚える

Plain	覚える	おぼえる	`[òbóéꜜrù]`
Conjunctive	覚えて	おぼえて	`[òbóꜜètè]`
Perfective	覚えた	おぼえた	`[òbóꜜètà]`
Negative	覚えない	おぼえない	`[òbóéꜜnàì]`
Negative perfective	覚えなかった	おぼえなかった	`[òbóéꜜnàkàttà]`
Hypothetical conditional	覚えれば	おぼえれば	`[òbóéꜜrèbà]`
Past conditional	覚えたら	おぼえたら	`[òbóꜜètàrà]`
Imperative	覚えろ覚えよ	おぼえろおぼえよ	`[òbóéꜜrò]` `[òbóéꜜyò]`
Volitional	覚えよう	おぼえよー	`[òbóéyóꜜò]`
Desiderative	覚えたい	おぼえたい	`[òbóétáꜜì]`
Formal	覚えます	おぼえます	`[òbóémáꜜsù]`
Formal negative	覚えません	おぼえません	`[òbóémáséꜜǹ]`
Formal volitional	覚えましょう	おぼえましょー	`[òbóémáshóꜜò]`
Formal perfective	覚えました	おぼえました	`[òbóémáꜜshìtà]`
Continuative	覚え覚えに	おぼえおぼえに	`[òbóꜜè]` `[òbóꜜè nì]`
Negative continuative	覚えず覚えずに	おぼえずおぼえずに	`[òbóéꜜzù]` `[òbóéꜜzù nì]`
Passive	覚えられる	おぼえられる	`[òbóéráréꜜrù]`
Causative	覚えさせる覚えさす	おぼえさせるおぼえさす	`[òbóésáséꜜrù]` `[òbóésáꜜsù]`
Potential	覚えられる覚えれる	おぼえられるおぼえれる	`[òbóéráréꜜrù]` `[òbóéréꜜrù]`

Verb

覚(おぼ)える • (oboeru) transitive ichidan (stem 覚(おぼ)え (oboe), past 覚(おぼ)えた (oboeta))

覚える, 憶える: to recall, to remember
- 2003 August 12, CLAMP, “Chapitre(シャピトル).2(に) 記(き)憶(おく)の対(たい)価(か) [Chapitre 2: The Cost of Memory]”, in ツバサＲＥＳＥＲＶｏｉｒＣＨＲｏＮｉＣＬＥ [Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN, page 74:
  
  てめー！覚(おぼ)えてろよ——‼
  Temē! Oboetero yo——‼
  Just you wait, bitch—!!
to learn
料理(りょうり)を覚(おぼ)える
ryōri o oboeru
to learn to cook
覚える, 憶える: to memorize
歌(か)詞(し)を覚(おぼ)える
kashi o oboeru
to memorize lyrics
to feel (an emotion or sense)
違(い)和(わ)感(かん)を覚(おぼ)える
iwakan o oboeru
to get the sense that something is off

Conjugation

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

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	覚え	おぼえ	oboe
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	覚え	おぼえ	oboe
Shūshikei ("terminal")	覚える	おぼえる	oboeru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	覚える	おぼえる	oboeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	覚えれ	おぼえれ	oboere
Meireikei ("imperative")	覚えよ¹ 覚えろ²	おぼえよ¹ おぼえろ²	oboeyo¹ oboero²
Key constructions
Passive	覚えられる	おぼえられる	oboerareru
Causative	覚えさせる覚えさす	おぼえさせるおぼえさす	oboesaseru oboesasu
Potential	覚えられる覚えれる³	おぼえられるおぼえれる³	oboerareru oboereru³
Volitional	覚えよう	おぼえよう	oboeyō
Negative	覚えない覚えぬ覚えん	おぼえないおぼえぬおぼえん	oboenai oboenu oboen
Negative continuative	覚えず	おぼえず	oboezu
Formal	覚えます	おぼえます	oboemasu
Perfective	覚えた	おぼえた	oboeta
Conjunctive	覚えて	おぼえて	oboete
Hypothetical conditional	覚えれば	おぼえれば	oboereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Synonyms

(recall, remember): 思(おも)い出(だ)す (omoidasu)

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “recall, remember”): 忘(わす)れる (wasureru): to forget

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

“覚える”, 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]

[2]