もてあそぶ

Japanese

Alternative spellings
弄ぶ もて遊ぶ 玩ぶ 翫ぶ

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) もてあそ​ぶ [mòtéásóꜜbù] (Nakadaka – [4])
• (Tokyo) もてあそぶ [mòtéásóbú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [mo̞te̞a̠so̞bɯ̟ᵝ]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "弄ぶ"

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	弄ぶ	もてあそぶ もてあそ​ぶ	[mòtéásóbú] [mòtéásóꜜbù]
Imperative (命令形)	弄べ	もてあそべ もてあそ​べ	[mòtéásóbé] [mòtéásóꜜbè]
Key constructions
Passive	弄ばれる	もてあそばれる もてあそばれ​る	[mòtéásóbárérú] [mòtéásóbáréꜜrù]
Causative	弄ばせる	もてあそばせる もてあそばせ​る	[mòtéásóbásérú] [mòtéásóbáséꜜrù]
Potential	弄べる	もてあそべる もてあそべ​る	[mòtéásóbérú] [mòtéásóbéꜜrù]
Volitional	弄ぼう	もてあそぼ​ー	[mòtéásóbóꜜò]
Negative	弄ばない	もてあそばない もてあそば​ない	[mòtéásóbánáí] [mòtéásóbáꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	弄ばなかった	もてあそばな​かった もてあそば​なかった	[mòtéásóbánáꜜkàttà] [mòtéásóbáꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	弄びます	もてあそびま​す	[mòtéásóbímáꜜsù]
Perfective	弄んだ	もてあそんだ もてあそ​んだ	[mòtéásóńdá] [mòtéásóꜜǹdà]
Conjunctive	弄んで	もてあそんで もてあそ​んで	[mòtéásóńdé] [mòtéásóꜜǹdè]
Hypothetical conditional	弄べば	もてあそべ​ば もてあそ​べば	[mòtéásóbéꜜbà] [mòtéásóꜜbèbà]

Verb

もてあそぶ • (moteasobu) transitive godan (stem もてあそび (moteasobi), past もてあそんだ (moteasonda))

1. to play with (a toy, a trifle, one's hair, etc.); to fiddle with
   • 1947, Toyoshima Yoshio (豊島与志雄), Tochi ni Kaeru: Kindai Setsuwa (「土地に還る ――近代説話――」), Miraisha (未来社) (1965, Toyoshima Yoshio Chosakushū vol.4 (『豊島与志雄著作集』第四巻))

     彼(かの)女(じょ)は彼(かれ)の耳(じ)朶(だ)を指(ゆび)先(さき)でもてあそぶのが好(す)きでした。

     Kanojo wa kare no jida o yubisaki de moteasobu no ga suki deshita.

     She liked to finger his lobes.

2. to toy with, to make sport of, to make a fool of, to trifle with
   • 1931, Kunieda Shirō (国枝史郎), Ahen wo Nomu Bishōnen (「鴉片を喫む美少年」), Michitani (未知谷) (1993, Kunieda Shiro Kiden Zenshū vol.6 (『国枝史郎伝奇全集』巻六))

     男(おとこ)が女(おんな)を弄(もてあそ)ぶことに、すっかり慣(な)れているように、彼(かの)女(じょ)等(ら)は男(おとこ)を弄(もてあそ)ぶことに、これまたすっかり慣(な)れているのだ。

     Otoko ga onna o moteasobu koto ni, sukkari narete iru yō ni, kanojora wa otoko o moteasobu koto ni, koremata sukkari narete iru noda.

     As men are well accustomed to making sport of women, the girls are quite used to toying with men.

3. to do with as one pleases
4. to appreciate
   • 1927, Masaoka Shiki (正岡子規), Bokujū Itteki (『墨汁一滴』), Iwanami Shoten (岩波書店)

     故(ゆえ)に茶(ちゃ)人(じん)の茶(ちゃ)を玩(もてあそ)ぶは歌(か)人(じん)の歌(うた)をつくり俳(はい)人(じん)の俳(はい)句(く)をつくるが如(ごと)く常(つね)に新(しん)鮮(せん)なる意(い)匠(しょう)を案(あん)出(しゅつ)し臨(りん)機(き)応(おう)変(へん)の材(ざい)を要(よう)す。

     Yueni chajin no cha o moteasobu wa kajin no uta o tsukuri haijin no haiku o tsukuru ga gotoku tsuneni shinsen-naru ishō o anshutsushi rinkiōhen no zai o yōsu.

     Masters of tea ceremonies have to always devise new ideas and prepare materials as the occasion demands in serving tea, as waka poets in creating waka and haiku poets in creating haiku.

Usage notes

This term is often spelled in hiragana.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "もてあそぶ" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	もてあそば	moteasoba
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	もてあそび	moteasobi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	もてあそぶ	moteasobu
Rentaikei ("attributive")	もてあそぶ	moteasobu
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	もてあそべ	moteasobe
Meireikei ("imperative")	もてあそべ	moteasobe
Key constructions
Passive	もてあそばれる	moteasobareru
Causative	もてあそばせる もてあそばす	moteasobaseru moteasobasu
Potential	もてあそべる	moteasoberu
Volitional	もてあそぼう	moteasobō
Negative	もてあそばない	moteasobanai
Negative continuative	もてあそばず	moteasobazu
Formal	もてあそびます	moteasobimasu
Perfective	もてあそんだ	moteasonda
Conjunctive	もてあそんで	moteasonde
Hypothetical conditional	もてあそべば	moteasobeba