う

See also: ゔ and ラ

う U+3046, う
HIRAGANA LETTER U
← ぅ
[U+3045] 		Hiragana ぇ →
[U+3047]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɯ̟ᵝ]
  • Audio(file)

Etymology 1

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

Syllable

う (romaji u)

  1. The hiragana syllable う (u). Its equivalent in katakana is ウ (u). It is the third syllable in the gojūon order; its position is あ行う段 (a-gyō u-dan, “row a, section u”).
See also

Etymology 2

Kana spelling of various words.

Noun

う (rōmaji u)

  1. 鵜: cormorant

Etymology 3

From the older auxiliary verb む.

Verb

う (rōmaji u)

  1. (auxiliary) Expressing one's will to do something.
    そろそろ帰 (かえ)ろう。
    Sorosoro kaerō.
    I'll return before long.
    手伝 (てつだ)おうか。
    Tetsudaō ka.
    Shall I help?
    • 誕 (たん)生 (じょう)日 (び)ケーキを作 (つく)ろうと思 (おも)っています。
      Tanjōbi kēki o tsukurō to omotte imasu.
      I'm thinking about baking a birthday cake.
    • 誕 (たん)生 (じょう)日 (び)ケーキを作 (つく)ろうとしています。
      Tanjōbi kēki o tsukurō to shite imasu.
      I'm trying to bake a birthday cake.
  2. (auxiliary) Inducing or stimulating other person to do something.
    明日一緒 (あしたいっしょ)に学 (がっ)校 (こう)に行 (い)こう。
    Ashita issho ni gakkō ni ikō.
    Let's go to school together tomorrow.
  3. (auxiliary, archaic) Presenting a supposition.
    そんなことはなかろう。
    Sonna koto wa nakarō.
    There's probably no such thing.
Usage notes
  • Attaches to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “imperfective form”) of verbs. The sound change of au → ō takes place. For example, 帰 (かえ)る (kaeru) → 帰 (かえ)ら (kaera) + う (u) → 帰 (かえ)ろう (kaerō).
  • う (u) is only used after godan verbs. よう (yō) is used with other verb classes.
Synonyms
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