る

See also: ろ and る゚

る U+308B, る HIRAGANA LETTER RU ← り [U+308A] Hiragana れ → [U+308C]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɾɯ̟]

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 留 in the cursive sōsho style.

Syllable

る • (ru) 

1. The hiragana syllable る (ru). Its equivalent in katakana is ル (ru). It is the forty-first syllable in the gojūon order; its position is ら行う段 (ra-gyō u-dan, “row ra, section u”).

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Suffix

る • (-ru) godan (stem り (-ri), past った (-tta))

1. (slang) A general method to form verbs (as a godan katsuyō verb). Much less productive than 〜する (-suru, “to do”).

   サボる

   saboru

   to skip, to play hooky; to slack off, to shirk one's duties

   ググる

   guguru

   to Google

Etymology 3

Contraction of いる (iru).

Verb

る • (ru) 

1. (informal, used after the conjunctive て (-te) form of a verb as てる (-teru)) the present progressive: to be doing

   待(ま)ってる

   matteru

   to be waiting

Etymology 4

See れる.

Suffix

る • (-ru) ^†nidan

1. Classical Japanese form of れる (-reru, passive suffix)

Usage notes

Attaches to the 未然形 (mizenkei).

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "る" (ラ行下二段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	れ		re
Continuative (連用形)	れ		re
Terminal (終止形)	る		ru
Attributive (連体形)	るる		ruru
Realis (已然形)	るれ		rure
Imperative (命令形)	れよ		reyo
Key constructions
Negative	れず		rezu
Contrasting conjunction	るれど		ruredo
Causal conjunction	るれば		rureba
Conditional conjunction	れば		reba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	れき		reki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	れけり		rekeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	れつ		retu
Perfect tense (natural event)	れぬ		renu
Perfect-continuative tense	れたり		retari
Volitional	れむ		remu

Etymology 5

Regular adnominal conjugation of verbal auxiliary suffix り (ri) indicating resulting state or completion of action.

Suffix

る • (-ru) 

1. (Classical Japanese or literary) adnominal of り (-ri)

   眠(ねむ)れる森(もり)の美(び)女(じょ)

   Nemureru Mori no Bijo

   Sleeping Beauty

   • wedding vows

     富(と)める時(とき)も貧(まず)しき時(とき)も

     tomeru toki mo mazushiki toki mo

     in wealth or poverty