Meaning

Primary

To Encourage Someone

Alternatives

To Cheer Up Someone, To Encourage

Word Type

transitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means encourage and the verb vocab version is to encourage someone (or to encourage).

Reading

はげます
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Think about encouraging a hag (はげ). She needs encouragement because she's a hag, and nobody likes her much because of that.

Context

Context Sentences

私は人を励ますのが苦手だ。

I'm not good at encouraging others.

いつも励ましてくれてありがとう。

Thank you for always encouraging me.

落ち込んでいる人を励ますのは難しい。

It's hard to cheer up someone who's depressed.

Kanji Composition