火に油を注ぐ

Japanese

Kanji in this term
火	油	注
ひ Grade: 1	あぶら Grade: 3	そそ Grade: 3
kun'yomi

Etymology

Literally “to pour oil on a fire”. Translation of the English idiom. First attested in the early 1900s.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [çi ɲ̟i a̠bɯ̟ɾa̠ o̞ so̞so̞ɡɯ̟]

Idiom

火(ひ)に油(あぶら)を注(そそ)ぐ • (hi ni abura o sosogu)

[from early 1900s] to add fuel to the fire
Synonyms: 油を注ぐ (abura o sosogu), 火に油 (hi ni abura)

Usage notes

A native idiom expressing the same idea of "making a bad situation worse" is 鬼に金棒 (oni ni kanabō, “[giving] a metal club to an ogre”).

Conjugation

Conjugation of "火に油を注ぐ" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	火に油を注が	ひにあぶらをそそが	hi ni abura o sosoga
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	火に油を注ぎ	ひにあぶらをそそぎ	hi ni abura o sosogi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	火に油を注ぐ	ひにあぶらをそそぐ	hi ni abura o sosogu
Rentaikei ("attributive")	火に油を注ぐ	ひにあぶらをそそぐ	hi ni abura o sosogu
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	火に油を注げ	ひにあぶらをそそげ	hi ni abura o sosoge
Meireikei ("imperative")	火に油を注げ	ひにあぶらをそそげ	hi ni abura o sosoge
Key constructions
Passive	火に油を注がれる	ひにあぶらをそそがれる	hi ni abura o sosogareru
Causative	火に油を注がせる火に油を注がす	ひにあぶらをそそがせるひにあぶらをそそがす	hi ni abura o sosogaseru hi ni abura o sosogasu
Potential	火に油を注げる	ひにあぶらをそそげる	hi ni abura o sosogeru
Volitional	火に油を注ごう	ひにあぶらをそそごう	hi ni abura o sosogō
Negative	火に油を注がない	ひにあぶらをそそがない	hi ni abura o sosoganai
Negative continuative	火に油を注がず	ひにあぶらをそそがず	hi ni abura o sosogazu
Formal	火に油を注ぎます	ひにあぶらをそそぎます	hi ni abura o sosogimasu
Perfective	火に油を注いだ	ひにあぶらをそそいだ	hi ni abura o sosoida
Conjunctive	火に油を注いで	ひにあぶらをそそいで	hi ni abura o sosoide
Hypothetical conditional	火に油を注げば	ひにあぶらをそそげば	hi ni abura o sosogeba

References

^ “火に油を注ぐ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[KDJc-1] “火に油を注ぐ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

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