Meaning

Primary

To Live

Alternatives

To Be Alive, To Exist

Word Type

intransitive verb, ichidan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means "life," making this word mean "to live."

Reading

いきる
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use a kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn the reading with this kanji though, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

What does it mean to live? Life is pretty icky (いき ... the comes from the hiragana part), but you have to take that ickiness and roll with it if you want to have a good life... if you want to live!

Context

Patterns of Use

Common Word Combinations

  • しあわせに生きる

    to live happily

    心の中に生きる

    to live on in one's heart

    人のために生きる

    to live for the other people

Context Sentences

このジェネレーションを生きる人々にメッセージはありますか?

Do you have a message for people living in this generation?

わたしのおじいちゃんは百才まで生きました。

My grandpa lived to be one hundred years old.

あした休みじゃないなんて、生きる元気がなくなりそうだよ。

I can't believe I'm not off tomorrow; I may lose my will to live.

Kanji Composition