How do you say "leave" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "leave" is 離れる (hanareru). It is a verb pronounced "hah-nah-reh-roo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

離れる is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as hanareru, it sounds roughly like "hah-nah-reh-roo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

週末に離れますつもりです。

Shuumatsu ni hanaremasu tsumori desu.

I plan to to leave this weekend.

Usage notes

離れる means to leave in Japanese. This is an everyday verb that learners encounter early. Mastering its masu form (離れます) and te-form opens up many sentence patterns.

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Questions about 離れる

How do you pronounce 離れる?

離れる is romanised as hanareru. Say it roughly like "hah-nah-reh-roo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 離れる formal or casual?

離れる is the plain (dictionary) form, used in casual speech and in dictionaries. For polite situations, verbs take a different ending, typically -masu. In Noun Town the game always shows the dictionary form.

How is 離れる written in Japanese?

離れる is written using kanji and hiragana. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

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.