気付く

Japanese

Kanji in this term
気	付

Alternative forms

• 気づく

Etymology

Compound of 気 (ki, “awareness”) +‎ 付く (tsuku, “to stick, to attach, to turn on”). The tsuku changes to zuku due to rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [kid͡zu͍ku͍]

Verb

気付く (intransitive, godan conjugation, hiragana きづく, romaji kizuku)

1. to become aware, to notice

   それについて気付かなかった。

   それについてきづかなかった。
   Sore ni tsuite kizukanakatta.

   I was not aware of that. → I did not notice that.

   危険に気付く

   きけんにきづく
   kiken ni kizuku

   to become aware of a danger → to notice a danger

2. to be revived, to come back to one's senses

   気絶していた人が気付いた。

   きぜつしていたひとがきづいた。
   Kizetsu shite ita hito ga kizuita.

   The person who had passed out regained consciousness.

Usage notes

Although the English gloss "to notice" is transitive, note that 気付く (kizuku) is intransitive. The verb can take an indirect object, marked with the particle に (ni), as in the examples above.