買う

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 本屋で本を買いました。▶ —
   I bought a book at the bookstore.
2. 何を買いたいですか。▶ —
   What do you want to buy?

Collocations

Mnemonic

かう — 買う, Yamato. A godan verb. The opposite of 売る uru (to sell). The kanji 買 is 罒 (a net) + 貝 (shell) = 'to gather shells with a net' = to buy. Shells (貝) were ancient Chinese currency ── buying is gathering with money. The hidden -w surfaces in conjugation ── negative 買わない kawanai, volitional 買おう kaou. ます-form 買います, te-form 買って. The noun form 買い物 kaimono (bought things = shopping) is an everyday word. Kanji that contain 貝 cluster around money ── 買 (buy), 売 (sell), 財 (wealth), 貯 (save). The memory of shell-currency sits fossilized in the script. The Korean reading mae is sister to the onyomi ばい ── 売買 baibai (buying and selling).

Quick check

1. How do you say "I did not buy" politely in Japanese?

   • 買いませんでした (correct polite past negative)
   • 買いませんだった (wrong)
   • 買わないでした (wrong)
   • 買わなかったです (acceptable casual past + です)