ひかえる

Japanese

Alternative spellings
控える 扣える

Etymology

From Old Japanese 控ふ (hikapu), in the 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) pattern.

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.

Also conjugated as 控ゆ (hikayu), following 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”), since the Muromachi period.
Derived as a compound of the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis form”) of 引く (hiku, “to pull”) + ふ (-fu, repetitious suffix), with the 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) pattern. Compare 抑える (osaeru, “to hold back”), from 押す (osu, “to push”), and 伝える (tsutaeru, “to communicate”), from earlier 伝つ (tutu, “to communicate”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ひかえる [hìkáéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])
• (Tokyo) ひかえる [hìkáꜜèrù] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [çi̥ka̠e̞ɾɯ̟]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「控える」

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	控える	ひかえる	[hìkáéꜜrù]
Imperative (命令形)	控えろ	ひかえろ	[hìkáéꜜrò]
Key constructions
Passive	控えられる	ひかえられる	[hìkáéráréꜜrù]
Causative	控えさせる	ひかえさせる	[hìkáésáséꜜrù]
Potential	控えられる	ひかえられる	[hìkáéráréꜜrù]
Volitional	控えよう	ひかえよー	[hìkáéyóꜜò]
Negative	控えない	ひかえない	[hìkáéꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	控えなかった	ひかえなかった	[hìkáéꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	控えます	ひかえます	[hìkáémáꜜsù]
Perfective	控えた	ひかえた	[hìkáꜜètà]
Conjunctive	控えて	ひかえて	[hìkáꜜètè]
Hypothetical conditional	控えれば	ひかえれば	[hìkáéꜜrèbà]

Verb

ひかえる • (hikaeru) ^{←ひかへる (fikaferu)?}transitive or intransitive ichidan (stem ひかえ (hikae), past ひかえた (hikaeta))

1. (intransitive) wait nearby
2. (intransitive) be nearby, be at hand
3. (transitive) deal with, face, contend with

   出(しゅっ)産(さん)をひかえた婦(ふ)人(じん)

   shussan o hikaeta fujin

   women facing childbirth

4. (transitive) refrain, restrain (oneself or oneself’s actions)

   Synonym: 遠慮する (enryo suru)

   手(て)拍(びょう)子(し)は控(ひか)えてください

   tebyōshi wa hikaete kudasai

   please do not clap to the beat

5. (transitive) cut back
6. (transitive) jot down

   Synonym: メモする (memo suru)

Conjugation

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

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	ひかえ	hikae
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	ひかえ	hikae
Shūshikei ("terminal")	ひかえる	hikaeru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	ひかえる	hikaeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	ひかえれ	hikaere
Meireikei ("imperative")	ひかえよ¹ ひかえろ²	hikaeyo¹ hikaero²
Key constructions
Passive	ひかえられる	hikaerareru
Causative	ひかえさせる ひかえさす	hikaesaseru hikaesasu
Potential	ひかえられる ひかえれる³	hikaerareru hikaereru³
Volitional	ひかえよう	hikaeyō
Negative	ひかえない ひかえぬ ひかえん	hikaenai hikaenu hikaen
Negative continuative	ひかえず	hikaezu
Formal	ひかえます	hikaemasu
Perfective	ひかえた	hikaeta
Conjunctive	ひかえて	hikaete
Hypothetical conditional	ひかえれば	hikaereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Derived terms

• 控(ひか)え室(しつ) (hikaeshitsu, “waiting room”)