弁える

Japanese

Alternative spelling
辨える (kyūjitai)

Inherited from Old Japanese 辨ふ. The first element may be the ren'yōkei of Old Japanese 分く (“to separate”), whence Japanese 分ける (“to separate”).

弁(わきま)える • (wakimaeru) transitive ichidan (stem 弁(わきま)え (wakimae), past 弁(わきま)えた (wakimaeta))

distinguish, tell something from another thing
to know (manners, one's place, etc.); to understand; to bear in mind
偉(えら)そうな事言(ことい)う前(まえ)に身(み)の程(ほど)わきまえろっ！
Erasō na koto iu mae ni mi no hodo wakimaero'!
Know your place before you say anything pretentious!

This term is often spelled in hiragana.

Conjugation of "弁える" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	弁え	わきまえ	wakimae
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	弁え	わきまえ	wakimae
Shūshikei ("terminal")	弁える	わきまえる	wakimaeru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	弁える	わきまえる	wakimaeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	弁えれ	わきまえれ	wakimaere
Meireikei ("imperative")	弁えよ¹ 弁えろ²	わきまえよ¹ わきまえろ²	wakimaeyo¹ wakimaero²
Key constructions
Passive	弁えられる	わきまえられる	wakimaerareru
Causative	弁えさせる弁えさす	わきまえさせるわきまえさす	wakimaesaseru wakimaesasu
Potential	弁えられる弁えれる³	わきまえられるわきまえれる³	wakimaerareru wakimaereru³
Volitional	弁えよう	わきまえよう	wakimaeyō
Negative	弁えない弁えぬ弁えん	わきまえないわきまえぬわきまえん	wakimaenai wakimaenu wakimaen
Negative continuative	弁えず	わきまえず	wakimaezu
Formal	弁えます	わきまえます	wakimaemasu
Perfective	弁えた	わきまえた	wakimaeta
Conjunctive	弁えて	わきまえて	wakimaete
Hypothetical conditional	弁えれば	わきまえれば	wakimaereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN