Kanji 調

音読おんよみ: チョウ

訓読くんよみ: しらべる・ととの

画数かくすう: 15

部首ぶしゅ: ごんべん(訁)

Meaning

Investigate / Tone / Adjust

  • Basic forms
  • 調べる — to check; investigate; look up / base form
  • 調べます — (I) check; investigate / masu form
  • 調べた — checked; investigated / ta form
  • 調べて — check and …; please look up / te-form
  • 調べない — do not check / negative
  • 調べれば — if (you) check / conditional
  • 調べろ・調べなさい — check it! / imperative
  • Other common forms
  • 調べたい — want to check / 〜たい form
  • 調べられる — can check / potential
  • 調べられない — cannot check / negative potential
  • More
  • よく調べる — check thoroughly
  • 調べている — am checking; am investigating
  • 調べなかった — didn’t check

調べる(しらべる) is an ichidan verb. Drop and add endings such as ます, た, て, ない. It’s used for researching, verifying facts, and looking information up.

  • 調子ちょうし — condition; tone
  • 調査ちょうさ — investigation
  • 調整ちょうせい — adjustment
  • 強調きょうちょう — emphasis
  • 調味料ちょうみりょう — seasoning
  • 語調ごちょう — tone of speech
More examples - tap to expand
  • 調理ちょうり — cooking; food preparation
  • 調和ちょうわ — harmony; balance
  • 快調かいちょう — smooth progress; good condition
  • 体調たいちょう — physical condition
Compound Verbs - tap to expand
  • 調しらなおす — to check again; to re-check
  • 調しらげる — to look up thoroughly; to investigate fully
  • 調しらくす — to investigate exhaustively

調 has 言(words / speech)on the left and 周(complete / all around)on the right. It connects the idea of “bringing things into order” through words — checking facts, adjusting balance, or harmonizing tone.

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