う

See also: ゔ and ラ

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

Japanese

Stroke order

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝ]

• Audio

  (file)

Syllable

う (romaji 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. Used to make the volitional form of verbs.
   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.

      • 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.

   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. (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.

Usage notes

Attaches only to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of Group I (godan) verbs, with the sound change au → ō. The pitch of the verb construction falls on the mora before う, regardless of the pitch accent of the base verb.

Inflectional classes in the う form

Word	dictionary form	mizenkei + -u (with sound change au → ō, eu → yō)	historical kana (reflecting underlying form before sound change)
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 Group II (ichidan) and Group III (irregular) verbs are formed with よう (-yō) instead of う (-u).

In traditional Japanese grammar, this is a 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”), with the sole form う (u) as the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and the 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 [affix] right (direction) [affix] (politics) right-wing [affix] (baseball) right fielder 【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 [affix] This term needs a translation to English. [noun] This term needs a translation to English. 【宇】6 [counter] Counter for buildings, roofs, etc. [affix] eaves; roof; house; building [affix] the whole world; universe 【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

(This term, う, is an alternative spelling of the above Sino-Japanese terms. For a list of all kanji read as う, not just those used in Japanese terms, see Category:Japanese kanji read as う.)

Etymology 4

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

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

(This term, う, is an alternative spelling of the above term. For a list of all kanji read as う, not just those used in Japanese terms, see Category:Japanese kanji read as う.)

Etymology 5

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)

   早い (hayai) → 早う (hayō)

   うれしい (ureshii) → うれしゅう (ureshū)

   少ない (sukunai) → 少のう (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 (mattōsuru).