Meaning

Primary

To Be Caught

Alternative

To Get Caught

Word Type

intransitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means catch, so this intransitive verb version is to be caught.

This is often a literal, physical catch, but 捕まる can also be used when someone's been gotten ahold of in a figurative way, like when you've finally managed to contact them.

Reading

つかまる
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

The reading is つか, so to remember that with to be caught, think about how you're a police officer chasing some criminals. Unfortunately, they split up into two cars (つか), meaning they can't both be caught. Guess you should have called for backup...

Context

Context Sentences

うちの会社のアルバイトが人をなぐって捕まってしまったんだ。

A part-time worker at my company got arrested for punching a person.

何度電話をしても出なかったけど、やっとアシュリーが捕まった。

No matter how many times I called there had been no answer, but then I finally caught Ashley.

最初スピード違反で止められたんだけど、その後飲酒運転で捕まっちゃったんだよ。

At first I was just stopped for speeding, but I ended up being caught for drunk driving.

Kanji Composition