帰る

See also: 歸る

Japanese

Kanji in this term
帰
かえ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
歸る (kyūjitai) 還る

Etymology

From Old Japanese かへる (kape₁ru), from Proto-Japonic *kaperu.

Cognate with 返(かえ)る (kaeru, “to return”), by extension of returning to one's home.

Compare 帰(かえ)す (kaesu, “to send someone home”, transitive).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かえる [káꜜèrù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠e̞ɾɯ̟]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 帰る

Plain	帰る	かえる	[káꜜèrù]
Conjunctive	帰って	かえって	[káꜜèttè]
Perfective	帰った	かえった	[káꜜèttà]
Negative	帰らない	かえらない	[kàéráꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	帰らなかった	かえらなかった	[kàéráꜜnàkàttà]
Hypothetical conditional	帰れば	かえれば	[káꜜèrèbà]
Past conditional	帰ったら	かえったら	[káꜜèttàrà]
Imperative	帰れ	かえれ	[káꜜèrè]
Volitional	帰ろう	かえろー	[kàéróꜜò]
Desiderative	帰りたい	かえりたい	[kàérítáꜜì]
Formal	帰ります	かえります	[kàérímáꜜsù]
Formal negative	帰りません	かえりません	[kàérímáséꜜǹ]
Formal volitional	帰りましょう	かえりましょー	[kàérímáshóꜜò]
Formal perfective	帰りました	かえりました	[kàérímáꜜshìtà]
Continuative	帰り 帰りに	かえり かえりに	[káꜜèrì] [káꜜèrì nì]
Negative continuative	帰らず 帰らずに	かえらず かえらずに	[kàéráꜜzù] [kàéráꜜzù nì]
Passive	帰られる	かえられる	[kàéráréꜜrù]
Causative	帰らせる 帰らす	かえらせる かえらす	[kàéráséꜜrù] [kàéráꜜsù]
Potential	帰れる	かえれる	[kàéréꜜrù]

Verb

帰(かえ)る • (kaeru) ^{←かへる (kaferu)?}intransitive godan (stem 帰(かえ)り (kaeri), past 帰(かえ)った (kaetta))

Japanese verb pair
active	帰(かえ)す
mediopassive	帰(かえ)る

1. to go home, to return
   • 1987 March 20 [1987 February 20], Fujiko Fujio, “じじぬき [No Longer Old Man]”, in カンビュセスの籤(くじ) [Cambyses’s Drawing] (藤子不二雄 ＳＦ全短編; 1), 2nd edition, volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Chuokoronsha, →ISBN, 第三章, page 814:

     かわいい子(こ)よ　孫(まご)よ　おじいちゃんは今(いま)帰(かえ)るぞーっ！

     Kawaii ko yo mago yo O-jī-chan wa ima kaeru zō'!

     My dear children and grandchildren, I'm coming home!

   • 1992, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, episode 9, spoken by Anavel Gato (Akio Otsuka):

     ソロモンよ！私(わたし)は帰(かえ)ってきた！

     Soromon yo ! Watashi wa kaette kita !

     O Solomon! I have returned!

2. to leave, to walk away
3. (baseball) to get to home plate

Conjugation

Conjugation of "帰る" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	帰ら	かえら	kaera
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	帰り	かえり	kaeri
Shūshikei ("terminal")	帰る	かえる	kaeru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	帰る	かえる	kaeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	帰れ	かえれ	kaere
Meireikei ("imperative")	帰れ	かえれ	kaere
Key constructions
Passive	帰られる	かえられる	kaerareru
Causative	帰らせる 帰らす	かえらせる かえらす	kaeraseru kaerasu
Potential	帰れる	かえれる	kaereru
Volitional	帰ろう	かえろう	kaerō
Negative	帰らない	かえらない	kaeranai
Negative continuative	帰らず	かえらず	kaerazu
Formal	帰ります	かえります	kaerimasu
Perfective	帰った	かえった	kaetta
Conjunctive	帰って	かえって	kaette
Hypothetical conditional	帰れば	かえれば	kaereba

Classical conjugation of "帰る" (ラ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	帰ら	かへら	kafera
Continuative (連用形)	帰り	かへり	kaferi
Terminal (終止形)	帰る	かへる	kaferu
Attributive (連体形)	帰る	かへる	kaferu
Realis (已然形)	帰れ	かへれ	kafere
Imperative (命令形)	帰れ	かへれ	kafere
Key constructions
Negative	帰らず	かへらず	kaferazu
Contrasting conjunction	帰れど	かへれど	kaferedo
Causal conjunction	帰れば	かへれば	kafereba
Conditional conjunction	帰らば	かへらば	kaferaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	帰りき	かへりき	kaferiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	帰りけり	かへりけり	kaferikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	帰りつ	かへりつ	kaferitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	帰りぬ	かへりぬ	kaferinu
Perfect-continuative tense	帰れり 帰りたり	かへれり かへりたり	kafereri kaferitari
Volitional	帰らむ	かへらむ	kaferamu

Derived terms

• 帰(かえ)り (kaeri)
• 帰(かえ)りなんいざ (kaerinan iza)
• 帰(かえ)るさ (kaeru sa)
• 帰(かえ)るさま (kaeru sama)
• 帰(かえ)る朝(あした) (kaeru ashita)
• 帰(かえ)る雁(かり) (kaeru kari)
• 神(かみ)帰(かえり)月(づき), 神(かみ)帰(かえ)り月(づき) (kamikaeri-zuki)
• 立(たち)帰(かえ)る, 立(た)ち帰(かえ)る (tachikaeru)
• 燕(つばめ)帰(かえ)る (tsubame kaeru)
• 鳥(とり)帰(かえ)る (tori kaeru)
• 逃(にげ)帰(かえ)る, 逃(に)げ帰(かえ)る (nigekaeru)
• 持(もち)帰(かえ)る, 持(も)ち帰(かえ)る (mochikaeru)
• 行(ゆ)き帰(かえ)る (yukikaeru), 行(ゆ)き帰(がえ)る (yukigaeru)
• 行(ゆ)くも帰(かえ)るもの関(せき) (Yuku-mo Kaeru-mo no Seki)
• 蘇(よみがえ)る, 甦(よみがえ)る (yomigaeru, “to reincarnate”)

Idioms

• 帰(かえ)らぬ旅(たび) (kaeranu tabi, “never-returning journey” → “dying”)
• 帰(かえ)らぬ人(ひと) (kaeranu hito, “person that never returns” → “a dead person”)
• 帰(かえ)らぬ路(みち) (kaeranu michi, “never-returning road” → “dying”)
• 帰(かえ)らぬ昔(むかし) (kaeranu mukashi, “never-returning past” → “unrepeatable past”)

Proverbs

• 宝(たから)の山(やま)に入(い)りながら手(て)を空(むな)しくして帰(かえ)る (takara no yama ni irinagara te o munashikushite kaeru, “returning to a mountain of treasure in vain” → “missed opportunity”)
• 錦(きん)衣(い)を着(き)て故(こ)郷(きょう)に帰(かえ)る (kin'i o kite kokyō ni kaeru, “wearing a brocade and going home” → “promoted and going home”)
• 行(ゆ)きは良(よ)い良(よ)い帰(かえ)りは恐(こわ)い (yuki wa yoiyoi kaeri wa kowai, “going is easy but returning is hard or scary” → “no guarantees returning”)
• 行(ゆ)き大(だい)名(みょう)の帰(かえ)り乞(こ)食(じき) (yuki daimyō no kaeri kojiki, “go as a daimyo, return as a beggar” → “fruitless waste”)
• 落(らっ)花(か)枝(えだ)に帰(かえ)らず (rakka eda ni kaerazu, “a branch of fallen flowers never return” → “a parted husband and wife do not return”)
• 落(らっ)花(か)枝(えだ)に帰(かえ)らず破(は)鏡(きょう)再(ふたた)び照(て)らさず (rakka eda ni kaerazu hakyō futatabi terasazu, “a branch of fallen flowers never return, a broken mirror does not shine again” → “a parted husband and wife do not return”)

See also

• 戻(もど)る (modoru, “to turn back, return”)

References

• “帰る”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026