もし

See also: もじ

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
若し 誠し (rare)

From Old Japanese; attested in the Man'yōshū of 759. In turn, reconstructed as deriving from Proto-Japonic *məsi.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) もし [móꜜshì] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [mo̞ɕi]

Adverb

もし • (moshi) 

1. 若し: [from 759] if; supposing

   もし来(こ)られたら来(き)なさい。

   Moshi koraretara kinasai.

   Come if you can. (informal)

2. 若し: [from 830] perhaps

Affix

もし • (moshi) 

1. 若し: [from 858] or maybe

Usage notes

• The word is used at the start of the clause serves as a signal that it's conditional and can be omitted. Other grammatical forms and words are still used to indicate the condition.

Synonyms

• もしも (moshimo)

See also

• たら (tara)
• なら (nara)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of もし – see the following entry.

【模試】 [noun] Clipping of 模擬試験 (mogi shiken, “mock exam”).

(This term, もし (moshi), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as もし, see Category:Japanese kanji read as もし.)