眺める

眺める

Japanese

Kanji in this term
眺
なが Grade: S
kun’yomi

Etymology

Modern form of classical 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verb 眺む (nagamu).[1] Related to adjective 長い (nagai, “long”), possibly deriving from 長 (naga, “long”) +‎ む (mu, verbalizing suffix, with an underlying meaning of “becoming that way”). Alternatively, may originally derive from the compound 長眺 (naga me, literally “long watching, long gaze”) found in the Kojiki of 711-712 CE.[1]

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) ながめ​る [nàgáméꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [na̠ɡa̠me̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "眺める (ながめる)"

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	眺める	ながめ​る	[nàgáméꜜrù]
Imperative (命令形)	眺めろ	ながめ​ろ	[nàgáméꜜrò]
Key constructions
Passive	眺められる	ながめられ​る	[nàgáméráréꜜrù]
Causative	眺めさせる	ながめさせ​る	[nàgámésáséꜜrù]
Potential	眺められる	ながめられ​る	[nàgáméráréꜜrù]
Volitional	眺めよう	ながめよ​ー	[nàgáméyóꜜò]
Negative	眺めない	ながめ​ない	[nàgáméꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	眺めなかった	ながめ​なかった	[nàgáméꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	眺めます	ながめま​す	[nàgámémáꜜsù]
Perfective	眺めた	なが​めた	[nàgáꜜmètà]
Conjunctive	眺めて	なが​めて	[nàgáꜜmètè]
Hypothetical conditional	眺めれば	ながめ​れば	[nàgáméꜜrèbà]

Verb

眺める (transitive, ichidan conjugation, hiragana ながめる, rōmaji nagameru)

1. to look at, to view, to gaze

   Often implies for a longer period of time than 見る (miru, “to see, to look at”).

2. to watch something for a continuous period of time
3. to look at and consider something carefully
4. to observe or look off at something in the distance
5. to space out, to be lost in thought

Conjugation

Conjugation of "眺める" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	眺め	ながめ	nagame
Continuative (連用形)	眺め	ながめ	nagame
Terminal (終止形)	眺める	ながめる	nagameru
Attributive (連体形)	眺める	ながめる	nagameru
Hypothetical (仮定形)	眺めれ	ながめれ	nagamere
Imperative (命令形)	眺めよ¹ 眺めろ²	ながめよ¹ ながめろ²	nagameyo¹ nagamero²
Key constructions
Passive	眺められる	ながめられる	nagamerareru
Causative	眺めさせる 眺めさす	ながめさせる ながめさす	nagamesaseru nagamesasu
Potential	眺められる 眺めれる³	ながめられる ながめれる³	nagamerareru nagamereru³
Volitional	眺めよう	ながめよう	nagameyō
Negative	眺めない 眺めぬ 眺めん	ながめない ながめぬ ながめん	nagamenai nagamenu nagamen
Negative continuative	眺めず	ながめず	nagamezu
Formal	眺めます	ながめます	nagamemasu
Perfective	眺めた	ながめた	nagameta
Conjunctive	眺めて	ながめて	nagamete
Hypothetical conditional	眺めれば	ながめれば	nagamereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Synonyms

• (look at): 見 (み)る (miru)
• (watch): 傍観 (ぼうかん)する (bōkan suru), 見 (み)詰 (つ)める (mitsumeru)
• (consider): 考慮 (こうりょ)する (kōryo suru)
• (look off): 見 (み)遣 (や)る (miyaru), 見渡 (みわた)す (miwatasu)

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
3. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN