音読み: ショ
訓読み: かく
画数: 10
部首: 曰（ひらび）
Meaning
Write / Writing / Book
- Basic forms
- 書く — to write / base form
- 書きます — polite / I write / masu form
- 書いた — past / wrote / ta form
- 書いて — te-form / write (and …) / linking or request
- 書かない — negative / don’t write / negative form
- 書けば — if I write / conditional
- 書け・書いてみろ — write! / try writing! / imperative
- Other common forms
- 書きたい — want to write / 〜たい form
- 書ける — can write / potential form
- 書けなかった — couldn’t write / negative past
- 書かれた — was written / passive
- 書かせる — make someone write / causative
- More
- 書こう — let’s write / 〜よう form
- 書いている — writing / progressive
- 書いてあった — had been written / state / result
書く (かく) is a godan (う-verb).
The final く changes to き / け / か depending on the form.
For example: 書きます, 書ける, 書かなかった — very regular pattern for く-ending verbs.
- 書店 — bookstore
- 書類 — document, paperwork
- 教科書 — textbook
- 書道 — calligraphy
- 読書 — reading books
More examples ▼
書 combines 者 (person/doer) and 聿 (brush), originally showing a person using a brush. It directly conveys “to write” and also refers to written works. In compounds, it often takes on broader meanings like "book" or "document".
毎日、日記を 書いています。
I write in my diary every day.
会社で 大事な書類を 書きました。
I wrote an important document at work.
書物 — books, writings