- Basic forms
- 泣く — to cry; to weep / base form
- 泣きます — cry; weep / masu form
- 泣いた — cried; wept / ta form
- 泣いて — crying; cry and … / te-form
- 泣かない — do not cry / negative form
- 泣けば — if (someone) cries / conditional
- 泣け・泣きなさい — cry! / imperative
- Other common forms
- 泣きたい — want to cry / 〜たい form
- 泣ける — can cry; be moved to tears / potential
- 泣けた — was able to cry / past potential
- 泣けない — cannot cry / negative potential
- More
- 泣こう — let’s cry / 〜よう form
- 泣かなかった — didn’t cry / past negative
- 泣いている — is crying / progressive
泣く(なく) is a godan verb ending in く. The stem alternates as く → き → い → っ, as seen in 泣く・泣きます・泣いて・泣いた. Used specifically for people crying; for animals or sounds, 鳴く is used instead.
- 泣く — to cry / to weep
- 号泣 — wailing / crying loudly
- 感泣 — moved to tears
- 哀泣 — sorrowful weeping
- 泣き声 — voice of cry
The left-side radical 氵 (water) and the right-side phonetic element 立 suggest “tears flowing.” The kanji vividly conveys emotional expression through crying.
子供が泣いています。
The child is crying.
彼は 感動して泣きました。
He cried from being deeply moved.
映画を見て号泣した。
I cried my eyes out watching the movie.
