How do you say "carry" in Japanese?

運ぶ

hakobu

Verb Kanji

In Japanese, "carry" is 運ぶ (hakobu).

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Pronunciation

Ha-ko-bu, three flat syllables with equal weight, the 'bu' ending softly rather than a hard English 'boo'.

Writing and usage

運ぶ is written using kanji. It's a verb, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.

Example sentence

彼は荷物を2階まで運ぶのを手伝った。

kareha nimotsu wo 2 kai made hakobu nowo tetsudatsu ta.

He helped carry the bags upstairs.

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How to remember 運ぶ

Hakobu sounds like 'ha, cobo' as in Cobo Hall — imagine carrying boxes into a big convention hall.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 運ぶ

How do you pronounce 運ぶ?

Ha-ko-bu, three flat syllables with equal weight, the 'bu' ending softly rather than a hard English 'boo'.

Is 運ぶ formal or casual?

運ぶ is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 運ぶ written in Japanese?

運ぶ is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as hakobu.

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Carry" in other languages

Curated by Callan Ratcliffe

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.

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