見せる

見せる

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
見
み Grade: 1
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese 見す (misu), following 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”).

Development

Natural progression from Old and Classical Japanese 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs ending in -u to modern Japanese 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”) verbs ending in -eru.

First cited to the Man'yōshū, circa 759 CE.[1]

Analyzable as 見 (mi, the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 見(み)る (miru, “to see; to look at”)) +‎ す (-su, causative suffix, corresponding to modern せる (-seru)).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) みせ​る [mìséꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [2])[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [mʲise̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "見せる"

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	見せる	みせ​る	[mìséꜜrù]
Imperative (命令形)	見せろ	みせ​ろ	[mìséꜜrò]
Key constructions
Passive	見せられる	みせられ​る	[mìséráréꜜrù]
Causative	見せさせる	みせさせ​る	[mìsésáséꜜrù]
Potential	見せられる	みせられ​る	[mìséráréꜜrù]
Volitional	見せよう	みせよ​ー	[mìséyóꜜò]
Negative	見せない	みせ​ない	[mìséꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	見せなかった	みせ​なかった	[mìséꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	見せます	みせま​す	[mìsémáꜜsù]
Perfective	見せた	み​せた	[míꜜsètà]
Conjunctive	見せて	み​せて	[míꜜsètè]
Hypothetical conditional	見せれば	みせ​れば	[mìséꜜrèbà]

Verb

見(み)せる • (miseru) transitive ichidan (stem 見(み)せ (mise), past 見(み)せた (miseta))

Japanese verb pair
causative	見(み)せる
active	見(み)る
mediopassive	見(み)える

1. to show

   写(しゃ)真(しん)を人(ひと)に見(み)せる

   shashin o hito ni miseru

   show someone a picture

2. 魅せる: to show off; to demonstrate a skill or talent
3. used as a 補助動詞 (hojo dōshi), after a verb in the て (-te) conjunctive form: to show one's ability or determination to do something; to set an example by doing something

Conjugation

Conjugation of "見せる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	見せ	みせ	mise
Continuative (連用形)	見せ	みせ	mise
Terminal (終止形)	見せる	みせる	miseru
Attributive (連体形)	見せる	みせる	miseru
Hypothetical (仮定形)	見せれ	みせれ	misere
Imperative (命令形)	見せよ¹ 見せろ²	みせよ¹ みせろ²	miseyo¹ misero²
Key constructions
Passive	見せられる	みせられる	miserareru
Causative	見せさせる 見せさす	みせさせる みせさす	misesaseru misesasu
Potential	見せられる 見せれる³	みせられる みせれる³	miserareru misereru³
Volitional	見せよう	みせよう	miseyō
Negative	見せない 見せぬ 見せん	みせない みせぬ みせん	misenai misenu misen
Negative continuative	見せず	みせず	misezu
Formal	見せます	みせます	misemasu
Perfective	見せた	みせた	miseta
Conjunctive	見せて	みせて	misete
Hypothetical conditional	見せれば	みせれば	misereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Related terms

• 見(み)る (miru)

References

1. “見”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, →ISBN
2. 1974, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Second Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō
3. 1960, Tetsuo Hirayama (平山輝男, editor), 全国アクセント辞典 (Zenkoku Akusento Jiten, “Nationwide Accent Dictionary”), (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō, →ISBN