引く

引く

Japanese

Kanji in this term
引
ひ Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Verb

引く (transitive and intransitive, godan conjugation, hiragana ひく, rōmaji hiku)

Japanese verb pair
active	引く
mediopassive	引ける

1. (transitive) pull (something toward oneself)
2. (transitive) pull (along); drag; drag along; bring along while going somewhere
3. (transitive) bring (people) in; bring together
4. (transitive) attract (someone's) attention
5. (transitive) pull out; stretch; spread (something over a surface or a distance)
6. (transitive) subtract; take away

   ６ (ろく)から４ (よん)を引 (ひ)くと２ (に)になる。

   Roku kara yon o hiku to ni ni naru.

   Subtract 4 from 6 and you get 2.

7. (transitive) (of an illness) catch

   風 (か)邪 (ぜ)を引 (ひ)いちゃった。

   Kaze o hiichatta.

   I caught a cold.

8. (transitive) (of a stringed instrument) play
9. (intransitive) pull out; pull back; withdraw; retreat

Conjugation

Conjugation of "引く" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	引か	ひか	hika
Continuative (連用形)	引き	ひき	hiki
Terminal (終止形)	引く	ひく	hiku
Attributive (連体形)	引く	ひく	hiku
Hypothetical (仮定形)	引け	ひけ	hike
Imperative (命令形)	引け	ひけ	hike
Key constructions
Passive	引かれる	ひかれる	hikareru
Causative	引かせる 引かす	ひかせる ひかす	hikaseru hikasu
Potential	引ける	ひける	hikeru
Volitional	引こう	ひこう	hikō
Negative	引かない	ひかない	hikanai
Negative continuative	引かず	ひかず	hikazu
Formal	引きます	ひきます	hikimasu
Perfective	引いた	ひいた	hiita
Conjunctive	引いて	ひいて	hiite
Hypothetical conditional	引けば	ひけば	hikeba

Classical conjugation of "引く" (カ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	引か	ひか	fika
Continuative (連用形)	引き	ひき	fiki
Terminal (終止形)	引く	ひく	fiku
Attributive (連体形)	引く	ひく	fiku
Realis (已然形)	引け	ひけ	fike
Imperative (命令形)	引け	ひけ	fike
Key constructions
Negative	引かず	ひかず	fikazu
Contrasting conjunction	引けど	ひけど	fikedo
Causal conjunction	引けば	ひけば	fikeba
Conditional conjunction	引かば	ひかば	fikaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	引きき	ひきき	fikiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	引きけり	ひきけり	fikikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	引きつ	ひきつ	fikitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	引きぬ	ひきぬ	fikinu
Perfect-continuative tense	引けり 引きたり	ひけり ひきたり	fikeri fikitari

Antonyms

• (pull): 押 (お)す (osu)

Derived terms

• 割引 (わりびき) (waribiki): discount

See also

• (to play a stringed instrument): 弾 (ひ)く (hiku)

Conjunction

引く (hiragana ひく, rōmaji hiku)

1. (mathematics) minus (subtraction)

   １ (じゅう)２ (に)引 (ひ)く６ (ろく)は６ (ろく)だ。

   Jūni hiku roku wa roku da.

   12 minus 6 is 6.

Coordinate terms

• 足 (た)す (tasu)
• 掛 (か)ける (kakeru)
• 割 (わ)る (waru)