仕える

Japanese

Kanji in this term
仕
つか Grade: 3
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
事える (rare)

Etymology

/tukapu/ → /t͡sukafu/ → /t͡sukafuru/ → /t͡sukaferu/ → /t͡sukaeru/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū of 759.

Cognate with 使う (tsukau, ancient tsukapu; “to use”), and derived via regular historical processes from the 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjgation”) verb paradigm from this same root form.

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.

While the 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”) pattern for tsukau was used to refer to the action of a superior to a subordinate, the shimo nidan conjugation pattern was used to refer to the action of a subordinate to a superior.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) つかえ​る [tsùkáéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])
• (Tokyo) つかえる [tsùkáérú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [t͡sɨᵝka̠e̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "仕える"

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	仕える	つかえ​る つか​える	[tsùkáéꜜrù] [tsùkáꜜèrù]
Imperative (命令形)	仕えろ	つかえ​ろ つか​えろ	[tsùkáéꜜrò] [tsùkáꜜèrò]
Key constructions
Passive	仕えられる	つかえられ​る	[tsùkáéráréꜜrù]
Causative	仕えさせる	つかえさせ​る	[tsùkáésáséꜜrù]
Potential	仕えられる	つかえられ​る	[tsùkáéráréꜜrù]
Volitional	仕えよう	つかえよ​ー	[tsùkáéyóꜜò]
Negative	仕えない	つかえ​ない	[tsùkáéꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	仕えなかった	つかえ​なかった	[tsùkáéꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	仕えます	つかえま​す	[tsùkáémáꜜsù]
Perfective	仕えた	つか​えた	[tsùkáꜜètà]
Conjunctive	仕えて	つか​えて	[tsùkáꜜètè]
Hypothetical conditional	仕えれば	つかえ​れば つか​えれば	[tsùkáéꜜrèbà] [tsùkáꜜèrèbà]

Verb

仕(つか)える • (tsukaeru) ^{←つかへる (tukaferu)?}intransitive ichidan (stem 仕(つか)え (tsukae), past 仕(つか)えた (tsukaeta))

Japanese verb pair
active	使う
mediopassive	仕える

1. to serve, serve under, take service under
2. to enter public service

Usage notes

This verb is intransitive. What would be translated as the object of this verb in English is marked by に (ni) in Japanese. Examples:

• 最(もっと)も高(たか)い目(もく)的(てき)に仕(つか)える

  motto mo takai mokuteki ni tsukaeru

  to be useful to the highest purpose → to serve the highest purpose

• この数(すう)年(ねん)間(かん)、父(ちち)母(はは)に仕(つか)えている。

  Kono sūnenkan, chichihaha ni tsukaeteiru.

  I have been being useful to my parents for several years now. → I have been taking care of my parents for several years now.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "仕える" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	仕え	つかえ	tsukae
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	仕え	つかえ	tsukae
Shūshikei ("terminal")	仕える	つかえる	tsukaeru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	仕える	つかえる	tsukaeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	仕えれ	つかえれ	tsukaere
Meireikei ("imperative")	仕えよ¹ 仕えろ²	つかえよ¹ つかえろ²	tsukaeyo¹ tsukaero²
Key constructions
Passive	仕えられる	つかえられる	tsukaerareru
Causative	仕えさせる 仕えさす	つかえさせる つかえさす	tsukaesaseru tsukaesasu
Potential	仕えられる 仕えれる³	つかえられる つかえれる³	tsukaerareru tsukaereru³
Volitional	仕えよう	つかえよう	tsukaeyō
Negative	仕えない 仕えぬ 仕えん	つかえない つかえぬ つかえん	tsukaenai tsukaenu tsukaen
Negative continuative	仕えず	つかえず	tsukaezu
Formal	仕えます	つかえます	tsukaemasu
Perfective	仕えた	つかえた	tsukaeta
Conjunctive	仕えて	つかえて	tsukaete
Hypothetical conditional	仕えれば	つかえれば	tsukaereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Synonyms

• (serve, serve under): 奉(ほう)仕(し)する (hōshi suru); 奉(ぶ)仕(し)する (bushi suru)
• (enter public service): 仕(し)官(かん)する (shikan suru)

Derived terms

• 神(かみ)に仕(つか)える (kami ni tsukaeru) serve God
• 主(しゅ)人(じん)に仕(つか)える (shujin ni tsukaeru): serve a master, serve an employer faithfully
• 二(に)君(くん)に仕(つか)える (nikun ni tsukaeru): serve two masters
• すまじきものは宮(みや)仕(づか)え (sumajiki mono wa miyazukae): it is better to work for oneself than to work for someone else

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 仕(つか)え女(め) (tsukaeme): maidservant
• 仕(つか)え奉(まつ)る (tsukaematsuru): to serve; to build something as commanded
• 側(そば)仕(づか)え (sobazukae): personal attendant, valet, maid
• 宮(みや)仕(づか)え (miyazukae): service to the royal court; public service, company employment
• 兼(か)ね仕(つか)える (kanetsukaeru): to serve multiple masters or causes at the same time

Related terms

Homophones deriving from the root つく (tsuku)

• 使(つか)える (tsukaeru): to be useful, to be capable of being used
• 支(つか)える (tsukaeru), 閊(つか)える (tsukaeru): to become clogged, blocked, stopped-up