る

See also: ろ and る゚

る U+308B, る HIRAGANA LETTER RU ← り [U+308A] Hiragana れ → [U+308C]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

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

Syllable

る (romaji ru)

1. The hiragana syllable る (ru). Its equivalent in katakana is ル (ru). It is the forty-first syllable in the gojūon order; its position is ら行う段 (ra-gyō u-dan, “row ra, 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, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐゐ゙, 𛄟, ゑゑ゙, をを゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Suffix

る • (-ru) 

1. (slang) A general method to form verbs (as a godan katsuyō verb). Much less productive than 〜する (-suru, “to do”).

   サボる

   saboru

   to skip, to play hooky; to slack off, to shirk one's duties

   ググる

   guguru

   to google

Etymology 3

Shortening of いる (iru).

Verb

る • (ru) 

1. (informal, used after the conjunctive て (-te) form of a verb) the present progressive: to be doing

   待(ま)ってる

   matteru

   to be waiting

Etymology 4

Suffix

る

1. (Classical Japanese, literary) adnominal of り (-ri)

   眠(ねむ)れる森(もり)の美女(びじょ)

   Nemureru Mori no Bijo

   Sleeping Beauty

   • wedding vows

     富(と)める時(とき)も貧(まず)しき時(とき)も

     tomeru toki mo mazushiki toki mo

     in wealth or poverty