How do you say "stop" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "stop" is 止める (tomeru). It is a verb pronounced "toh-meh-roo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

止める is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as tomeru, it sounds roughly like "toh-meh-roo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

私は毎日止めます。

Watashi wa mainichi tomemasu.

I to stop every day.

Usage notes

止める means to stop in Japanese. This is an everyday verb that learners encounter early. Mastering its masu form (止めます) and te-form opens up many sentence patterns.

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Questions about 止める

How do you pronounce 止める?

止める is romanised as tomeru. Say it roughly like "toh-meh-roo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 止める formal or casual?

止める 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 止める written in Japanese?

止める 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.