残る

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. ご飯が少し残った。▶ —
   A little rice was left.
2. 友達が会社に残っている。▶ —
   My friend is still at the office.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Nokoru (残る) is the Japanese intransitive verb for "remain / linger / be left over." The kanji 残 combines 歹 (bone, death) and 戔 (small, residue) — "small things remaining after death" widened into "leftover, surplus." Transitivity pair: nokoru ↔ nokosu (残す, leave behind, transitive). Senses: (1) physical leftover ("gohan ga nokoru" rice remains, "hito ga nokoru" people stay); (2) temporal leftover ("jikan ga nokoru" time remains); (3) emotional leftover ("omoide ga nokoru" memories linger, "nagori ga nokoru" wistful traces); (4) historical legacy ("rekishi ni nokoru" remain in history, "namae ga nokoru" a name endures). Zangyou (overtime work) is a flagship Japanese labor word — karoushi (death from overwork) was big enough in 1980s Japan to enter English as a loanword. Labor reform capped monthly overtime at 45 hours under the 2019 hatarakikata-kaikaku law. The kanji 残 anchors the East Asian compound family jan / can / zan.

Quick check

1. Post-reform Japanese zangyou (overtime) monthly cap?

   • 45 hours per month (2019 work-style reform)
   • 100 hours per month
   • Unlimited
   • 20 hours per month