- Basic forms
- 語る — to speak; to tell; to narrate / base form
- 語ります — (I) speak; narrate / masu form
- 語った — told; narrated / ta form
- 語って — speak and …; tell … / te-form
- 語らない — do not tell / negative form
- 語れば — if (someone) tells / conditional
- 語れ・語りなさい — tell!; speak! / imperative
- Other common forms
- 語りたい — want to tell; want to talk about / 〜たい form
- 語れる — can speak; can narrate / potential
- 語れた — was able to speak / past potential
- 語れない — cannot tell / negative potential
- More
- 語ろう — let’s talk; let’s tell / 〜よう form
- 語らなかった — didn’t tell / past negative
- 語っている — is telling; is speaking / progressive
語る(かたる) is a godan verb ending in る. Stem alternates as る → り → っ, giving 語る・語ります・語って・語った. Often used for storytelling, expressing one’s thoughts, or narrating experiences.
- 日本語 — Japanese language
- 英語 — English language
- 語る — to talk, to tell
- 語学 — language study
- 単語 — single vocabulary word
- 語彙 — lexicon, vocabulary stock
More examples ▼
This character combines 言 (speech) and 吾 (I, self), forming the idea of “speaking for oneself” — to talk, express, or describe. Over time, it came to mean “language” or “word.”
英語を勉強しています。
I’m studying English.
語ってください。
Please tell (your story).
