How do you say "pull" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "pull" is 引っ張る (hipparu). It is a verb pronounced "hee-ppah-roo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

引っ張る is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as hipparu, it sounds roughly like "hee-ppah-roo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

彼女は公園で引っ張ります。

Kanojo wa kouen de hipparimasu.

She to pulls in the park.

Usage notes

引っ張る means to pull in Japanese. This is an everyday verb that learners encounter early. Mastering its masu form (引っ張ります) and te-form opens up many sentence patterns.

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Questions about 引っ張る

How do you pronounce 引っ張る?

引っ張る is romanised as hipparu. Say it roughly like "hee-ppah-roo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 引っ張る formal or casual?

引っ張る 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 引っ張る written in Japanese?

引っ張る 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.