ひもとく

Japanese

Alternative spellings
繙く 紐解く

Etymology

From 紐(ひも) (himo, “string”) + 解(と)く (toku, “to undo”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ひもと​く [hìmótóꜜkù] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [çimo̞to̞kɯ̟ᵝ]

Verb

ひもとく • (himotoku) ^{←ひもとく (fimotoku)?}transitive godan (stem ひもとき (himotoki), past ひもといた (himotoita))

1. to read (a book)
2. to investigate by reading

   歴(れき)史(し)をひもとく

   rekishi o himotoku

   to investigate history

Conjugation

Conjugation of "ひもとく" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	ひもとか	himotoka
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	ひもとき	himotoki
Shūshikei ("terminal")	ひもとく	himotoku
Rentaikei ("attributive")	ひもとく	himotoku
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	ひもとけ	himotoke
Meireikei ("imperative")	ひもとけ	himotoke
Key constructions
Passive	ひもとかれる	himotokareru
Causative	ひもとかせる ひもとかす	himotokaseru himotokasu
Potential	ひもとける	himotokeru
Volitional	ひもとこう	himotokō
Negative	ひもとかない	himotokanai
Negative continuative	ひもとかず	himotokazu
Formal	ひもときます	himotokimasu
Perfective	ひもといた	himotoita
Conjunctive	ひもといて	himotoite
Hypothetical conditional	ひもとけば	himotokeba