How do you say "to write" in Japanese?

書く

kaku

Verb Kanji

In Japanese, "to write" is 書く (kaku).

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Pronunciation

書く is written using kanji. Romanised as kaku, it sounds roughly like "kah-koo" to an English ear.

Writing and usage

Kaku changes its ending depending on politeness and tense: kakimasu (書きます) is the polite present form, and kaita (書いた) is the plain past form. The kanji 書 also appears in 辞書 (jisho, dictionary) and 図書館 (toshokan, library), both places built around writing.

Example sentence

彼は上手に書きます。

Kare wa jouzu ni kakimasu.

He writes well.

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How to remember 書く

The kanji 書 has a horizontal stroke near the top that looks like a pen resting on a line of paper, sitting above the character for 日 (day or sun). One way to remember it is a pen used every day.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

See more Japanese verbs.

Questions about 書く

How do you pronounce 書く?

書く is romanised as kaku. Say it roughly like "kah-koo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 書く formal or casual?

書く 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 書く written in Japanese?

書く is written using kanji. Kaku changes its ending depending on politeness and tense: kakimasu (書きます) is the polite present form, and kaita (書いた) is the plain past form.

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

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"To write" in other languages

Curated by Callan Ratcliffe

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