う

See also: ゔ and ラ

う U+3046, う HIRAGANA LETTER U ← ぅ [U+3045] Hiragana ぇ → [U+3047]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟]

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 宇 in the cursive sōsho style.

Syllable

う • (u) 

1. The hiragana syllable う (u). Its equivalent in katakana is ウ (u). It is the third syllable in the gojūon order; its position is あ行う段 (a-gyō u-dan, “row a, section u”).

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

/mu/ → /ũ/ → /u/ → (fused with the /a/ ending in the preceding verb stem) /ɔː/ → /oː/

From Old Japanese む (mu). See the entry at よう for more information.

Suffix

う • (-u) uninflectable (in Modern Japanese, no longer pronounced -u but fused with the preceding vowel to make -ō or -yō)

1. Expressing one's will to do something.

   そろそろ帰(かえ)ろう。 ― Sorosoro kaerō. ― I'll return before long.

   手(て)伝(つだ)おうか。 ― Tetsudaō ka. ― Shall I help?

   誕(たん)生(じょう)日(び)ケーキを作(つく)ろうと思(おも)っています。

   Tanjōbi-kēki o tsukurō to omotte imasu.

   I'm thinking about baking a birthday cake.

2. Inducing or stimulating other person to do something.

   明日(あした)一(いっ)緒(しょ)に学(がっ)校(こう)に行(い)こう。

   Ashita issho ni gakkō ni ikō.

   Let's go to school together tomorrow.

3. (followed by とする (to suru)) to try to do; to attempt to do

   誕(たん)生(じょう)日(び)ケーキを作(つく)ろうとしています。

   Tanjōbi-kēki o tsukurō to shite imasu.

   I'm trying to bake a birthday cake.

4. (followed by とする (to suru)) to be about to do; to be on the verge of doing

   ゲームを遊(あそ)ぼうとしたとき、電(でん)話(わ)がかかった。

   Gēmu o asobō to shita toki, denwa ga kakatta.

   The phone rang as I was about to play the game.

5. (archaic) Presenting a supposition.

   Synonyms: だろう (darō), でしょう (deshō)

   そんなことはなかろう。

   Sonna koto wa nakarō.

   There's probably no such thing.

6. (followed by が (ga) or と (to), often in parallel) whether … or …

   それが「近(きん)代(だい)化(か)」であろうとなかろうと構(かま)わない。

   Sore ga “kindaika” de arō to nakarō to kamawanai.

   It doesn't matter whether it is "modernization" or not.

Usage notes

Attaches by changing the -u of godan verbs to -ō (spelled -ou in modern kana, -au in historical kana). The polite auxiliary -masu changes to -mashō (spelled -mashou in modern kana, -maseu in historical kana). The Tokyo accent falls on the penultimate mora regardless of the underlying verb.

Inflection rules for the う form

Word	dictionary form	volitional form (modern kana)	volitional form (historical kana)
godan verbs (type 1)
書く	かく (káꜜkù)	かこう (kàkóꜜò)	かかう
泳ぐ	およぐ (òyóꜜgù)	およごう (òyógóꜜò)	およがう
話す	はなす (hànáꜜsù)	はなそう (hànásóꜜò)	はなさう
待つ	まつ (máꜜtsù)	まとう (màtóꜜò)	またう
死ぬ	しぬ (shìnú)	しのう (shìnóꜜò)	しなう
呼ぶ	よぶ (yòbú)	よぼう (yòbóꜜò)	よばう
読む	よむ (yóꜜmù)	よもう (yòmóꜜò)	よまう
作る	つくる (tsùkúꜜrù)	つくろう (tsùkúróꜜò)	つくらう
買う	かう (kàú)	かおう (kàóꜜò)	かはう
-i adjectives (archaic)
高い	たかい (takai)	たかかろう (takakarō)	たかからう
auxiliaries
だ	だ (da)	だろう (darō)	だらう
です	です (desu)	でしょう (deshō)	でせう
ます	ます (masu)	ましょう (mashō)	ませう
ない	ない (nai)	なかろう (nakarō) (archaic)	なからう
たい	たい (tai)	たかろう (takarō) (archaic)	たからう
た	た (ta)	たろう (tarō) (archaic)	たらう

The volitional form of ichidan and irregular verbs are formed with よう (-yō) instead of う (-u).

This ending also attaches to adjectives and negative forms of verbs but the meaning is restricted to the conjectural sense. To express volition not to do something you can use the まい (-mai) ending or express it in another way: …のをやめよう (… no o yameyō, “let's give up doing something”) or …ないようにしよう (…nai yō ni shiyō, “let's decide that we don't do something”).

In traditional Japanese grammar, this is a 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) attaching to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis form”). The ending itself has the sole form う (u) as its 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and 連体形 (rentaikei, “adnominal form”). Morphologically, this is an uninflecting inflectional suffix whose proper shape is /oː/ (-ō), attaching to the stem of consonant-stem verbs.

See also

• よう (-yō)
• ん (-n)
• む (-mu)

Japanese basic inflections

			Verbs	-i adjectives	nouns and -na adjectives
Nonpast	Plain	Affirmative	Use the dictionary form	stem + い (-i)	noun + だ (da) (noun + である (de aru))
		Negative	mizenkei + ない (-nai)	stem + くない (-ku nai)	noun + で（は）ない (de [wa] nai)
	Polite	Affirmative	ren'yōkei + ます (-masu)	stem + いです (-i desu)	noun + です (desu)
		Negative	ren'yōkei + ません (-masen)	stem + くないです (-ku nai desu) stem + くありません (-ku arimasen)	noun + で（は）ないです (de [wa] nai desu) noun + で（は）ありません (de [wa] arimasen)
Past	Plain	Affirmative	ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + た (-ta)	stem + かった (-katta)	noun + だった (datta) (noun + であった (de atta))
		Negative	mizenkei + なかった (-nakatta)	stem + くなかった (-ku nakatta)	noun + で（は）なかった (de [wa] nakatta)
	Polite	Affirmative	ren'yōkei + ました (-mashita)	stem + かったです (-katta desu)	noun + でした (deshita)
		Negative	ren'yōkei + ませんでした (-masen deshita)	stem + くなかったです (-ku nakatta desu) stem + くありませんでした (-ku arimasen deshita)	noun + で（は）なかったです (de [wa] nakatta desu) noun + で（は）ありませんでした (de [wa] arimasen deshita)
Volitional	Plain		mizenkei (of Group I verbs) + う (-u > -o) mizenkei (of other verbs) + よう (-yō)	†stem + かろう (-karō) (stem + いだろう (-i darō))	noun + だろう (darō) (noun + であろう (de arō))
	Polite		ren'yōkei + ましょう (-mashō)	(stem + いでしょう (-i deshō))	noun + でしょう (deshō)
Conjunctive			ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + て (-te)	stem + くて (-kute)	noun + で (de) (noun + であって (de atte))
Hypothetical conditional			kateikei + ば (-ba)	stem + ければ (-kereba)	(noun + であれば (de areba))

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of う – see the following entries.

【右】1 [prefix] right (direction) [prefix] (politics) right-wing [prefix] (baseball) right fielder [prefix] (history, government) "of the right", junior or subordinate to 左 (sa-, “of the left”)

【雨】1 [affix] rain [affix] (figuratively) something falling like rain [affix] (figuratively) favor, blessing

【羽】2 [noun] (music) the fifth and highest note in the Chinese pentatonic scale [affix] wing (of a bird or insect) [affix] (historical) Short for 出羽国 (Dewa-no-kuni): Dewa Province

【有】3 [affix] exist [noun] (Buddhism) bhava (becoming, existence)​

【宇】6 [counter] Counter for buildings, roofs, etc. [affix] eaves; roof; house; building [affix] the whole world; universe (Can we add an example for this sense?) [affix] Short for ウクライナ (“Ukraine (a country in Eastern Europe)”). [2000s?–]

【烏】J [affix] crow; raven [affix] black; dark [affix] (figuratively) sun [affix] A Chinese interrogative for rhetorical questions.

【迂】J [affix] roundabout; detour [affix] ignorant

【紆】H [affix] roundabout

【卯】J [proper noun] the Rabbit, the fourth of the twelve Earthly Branches

【諾お】S [interjection] (archaic) interjection expressing consent or agreement; yes, alright, okay Alternative spelling せ

【鵜】J [noun] a cormorant (seabird of the family Phalacrocoracidae) [proper noun] a surname Alternative spelling ウ

【得】5 [verb] Classical Japanese form of 得る (uru)

(This term, う (u), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as う, see Category:Japanese kanji read as う.)

Etymology 4

Suffix

う • (-u)  (in Modern Japanese, no longer pronounced -u but fused with the preceding vowel)

1. Alternative form of く (-ku, adverbial suffix of -i adjectives)

   早(はや)い (hayai) → 早(はよ)う (hayō)

   嬉(うれ)しい (ureshī) → 嬉(うれ)しゅう (ureshū)

   少(すく)ない (sukunai) → 少(すく)のう (sukunō)

Usage notes

This form of adjectives is now restricted to western Japan. In the standard language it is used in super-polite language before ございます (gozaimasu) and 存(ぞん)じます (zonjimasu), and also in fossilized words like 全(まっと)うする (mattō suru).