悩む

Japanese

Kanji in this term
悩
なや Grade: S
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
惱む (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū completed in 759 CE.

May be derived from 萎える (naeru, “to weaken; to wither; to bend; to become limp; to become listless”), from the classical form 萎ゆ (nayu) in the irrealis verb stem naya- + suppositional suffix む (mu).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) なや​む [nàyáꜜmù] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [na̠ja̠mɯ̟ᵝ]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "悩む"

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	悩む	なや​む	[nàyáꜜmù]
Imperative (命令形)	悩め	なや​め	[nàyáꜜmè]
Key constructions
Passive	悩まれる	なやまれ​る	[nàyámáréꜜrù]
Causative	悩ませる	なやませ​る	[nàyámáséꜜrù]
Potential	悩める	なやめ​る	[nàyáméꜜrù]
Volitional	悩もう	なやも​ー	[nàyámóꜜò]
Negative	悩まない	なやま​ない	[nàyámáꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	悩まなかった	なやま​なかった	[nàyámáꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	悩みます	なやみま​す	[nàyámímáꜜsù]
Perfective	悩んだ	なや​んだ	[nàyáꜜǹdà]
Conjunctive	悩んで	なや​んで	[nàyáꜜǹdè]
Hypothetical conditional	悩めば	なや​めば	[nàyáꜜmèbà]

Verb

悩(なや)む • (nayamu) transitive or intransitive godan (stem 悩(なや)み (nayami), past 悩(なや)んだ (nayanda))

Japanese verb pair
active	悩ます, 悩める
mediopassive	悩む

1. [from early 1000s] (intransitive) (in reaction to something not going as expected) to worry, to be bothered, to be emotionally distressed, to dwell on, to be vexed

   Synonyms: 心配する (shinpai suru, “to worry”), 思い煩う (omoiwazurau, “to be anxious about, to dwell on”), 困る (komaru, “to be stuck, to be in difficulty”), 当惑する (tōwaku suru, “to be perplexed”)

2. [from 720] (intransitive) to suffer physically, to suffer physical distress; to fall ill, to get sick

   Synonyms: 苦しむ (kurushimu, “to suffer”), 悶える (modaeru, “to be anguished”), 病む (yamu, “to get sick”)

3. [from 720] (intransitive, auxiliary) (attaches to the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of another verb) to get stuck, to go sideways, to not go well

   行(ゆき)悩(なや)む

   yukinayamu

   to be deadlocked, to be stuck, to make no progress

4. [from 1680s] (transitive, archaic) to make do, to manage to do

   Synonym: 工面する (kumen suru)

5. [from 1680s] (transitive, archaic) to deal with a difficulty, to manage a challenge, to handle something

   Synonyms: あしらう (ashirau), 取り扱う (toriatsukau)

Usage notes

In modern Japanese, this verb is intransitive. In Classical Japanese, it appears in some texts as transitive.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "悩む" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	悩ま	なやま	nayama
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	悩み	なやみ	nayami
Shūshikei ("terminal")	悩む	なやむ	nayamu
Rentaikei ("attributive")	悩む	なやむ	nayamu
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	悩め	なやめ	nayame
Meireikei ("imperative")	悩め	なやめ	nayame
Key constructions
Passive	悩まれる	なやまれる	nayamareru
Causative	悩ませる 悩ます	なやませる なやます	nayamaseru nayamasu
Potential	悩める	なやめる	nayameru
Volitional	悩もう	なやもう	nayamō
Negative	悩まない	なやまない	nayamanai
Negative continuative	悩まず	なやまず	nayamazu
Formal	悩みます	なやみます	nayamimasu
Perfective	悩んだ	なやんだ	nayanda
Conjunctive	悩んで	なやんで	nayande
Hypothetical conditional	悩めば	なやめば	nayameba

Classical conjugation of "悩む" (マ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	悩ま	なやま	nayama
Continuative (連用形)	悩み	なやみ	nayami
Terminal (終止形)	悩む	なやむ	nayamu
Attributive (連体形)	悩む	なやむ	nayamu
Realis (已然形)	悩め	なやめ	nayame
Imperative (命令形)	悩め	なやめ	nayame
Key constructions
Negative	悩まず	なやまず	nayamazu
Contrasting conjunction	悩めど	なやめど	nayamedo
Causal conjunction	悩めば	なやめば	nayameba
Conditional conjunction	悩まば	なやまば	nayamaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	悩みき	なやみき	nayamiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	悩みけり	なやみけり	nayamikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	悩みつ	なやみつ	nayamitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	悩みぬ	なやみぬ	nayaminu
Perfect-continuative tense	悩めり 悩みたり	なやめり なやみたり	nayameri nayamitari
Volitional	悩まむ	なやまむ	nayamamu

Verb

悩(なや)む • (nayamu) transitive ^†nidan

1. [from 1560s] to vex, to cause distress: see modern 悩(なや)める (nayameru)

   Synonym: 悩ます (nayamasu)

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "悩む" (マ行下二段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	悩め	なやめ	nayame
Continuative (連用形)	悩め	なやめ	nayame
Terminal (終止形)	悩む	なやむ	nayamu
Attributive (連体形)	悩むる	なやむる	nayamuru
Realis (已然形)	悩むれ	なやむれ	nayamure
Imperative (命令形)	悩めよ	なやめよ	nayameyo
Key constructions
Negative	悩めず	なやめず	nayamezu
Contrasting conjunction	悩むれど	なやむれど	nayamuredo
Causal conjunction	悩むれば	なやむれば	nayamureba
Conditional conjunction	悩めば	なやめば	nayameba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	悩めき	なやめき	nayameki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	悩めけり	なやめけり	nayamekeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	悩めつ	なやめつ	nayametu
Perfect tense (natural event)	悩めぬ	なやめぬ	nayamenu
Perfect-continuative tense	悩めたり	なやめたり	nayametari
Volitional	悩めむ	なやめむ	nayamemu

Derived terms

• 悩(なや)み (nayami)
• 悩(なや)ます (nayamasu)
• 悩(なや)ましい (nayamashii)
• 悩(なや)める (nayameru)

References

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.