爪の垢を煎じて飲む

Japanese

Kanji in this term
爪	垢	煎	飲
つめ Grade: S	あか Hyōgai	せん Grade: S	の Grade: 3
kun'yomi		on'yomi	kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
爪の垢を煎じて飮む (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Compound of 爪(つめ) (tsume, “nail”) + の (no, possessive particle) + 垢(あか) (aka, “dirt”) + を (o, accusative case particle) + 煎(せん)じて (senjite, te form of 煎(せん)じる (senjiru, “to boil”)) + 飲(の)む (nomu, “to drink”). Literally, “to boil the dirt under (somebody's) fingernails and drink it (so that you may become like them)”.

Verb

爪(つめ)の垢(あか)を煎(せん)じて飲(の)む • (tsume no aka o senjite nomu) godan (stem 爪(つめ)の垢(あか)を煎(せん)じて飲(の)み (tsume no aka o senjite nomi), past 爪(つめ)の垢(あか)を煎(せん)じて飲(の)んだ (tsume no aka o senjite nonda))

1. (idiomatic) learn something (from someone serving as an example), follow in someone's footsteps

Conjugation

Conjugation of "爪の垢を煎じて飲む" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	爪の垢を煎じて飲ま	つめのあかをせんじてのま	tsume no aka o senjite noma
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	爪の垢を煎じて飲み	つめのあかをせんじてのみ	tsume no aka o senjite nomi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	爪の垢を煎じて飲む	つめのあかをせんじてのむ	tsume no aka o senjite nomu
Rentaikei ("attributive")	爪の垢を煎じて飲む	つめのあかをせんじてのむ	tsume no aka o senjite nomu
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	爪の垢を煎じて飲め	つめのあかをせんじてのめ	tsume no aka o senjite nome
Meireikei ("imperative")	爪の垢を煎じて飲め	つめのあかをせんじてのめ	tsume no aka o senjite nome
Key constructions
Passive	爪の垢を煎じて飲まれる	つめのあかをせんじてのまれる	tsume no aka o senjite nomareru
Causative	爪の垢を煎じて飲ませる 爪の垢を煎じて飲ます	つめのあかをせんじてのませる つめのあかをせんじてのます	tsume no aka o senjite nomaseru tsume no aka o senjite nomasu
Potential	爪の垢を煎じて飲める	つめのあかをせんじてのめる	tsume no aka o senjite nomeru
Volitional	爪の垢を煎じて飲もう	つめのあかをせんじてのもう	tsume no aka o senjite nomō
Negative	爪の垢を煎じて飲まない	つめのあかをせんじてのまない	tsume no aka o senjite nomanai
Negative continuative	爪の垢を煎じて飲まず	つめのあかをせんじてのまず	tsume no aka o senjite nomazu
Formal	爪の垢を煎じて飲みます	つめのあかをせんじてのみます	tsume no aka o senjite nomimasu
Perfective	爪の垢を煎じて飲んだ	つめのあかをせんじてのんだ	tsume no aka o senjite nonda
Conjunctive	爪の垢を煎じて飲んで	つめのあかをせんじてのんで	tsume no aka o senjite nonde
Hypothetical conditional	爪の垢を煎じて飲めば	つめのあかをせんじてのめば	tsume no aka o senjite nomeba