VocabularyJLPT N5 · core

持つ

もつ

hepburn motsu

to hold, to have

Part of speech · godan-verb

Pattern visualization

持hold

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Examples

かばんを持ってください。
Please hold the bag.
私は車を持っていません。
I don't own a car.

Collocations

持つ (motsu, to hold, to have)持っている (motte iru, owning state)所有する (shoyuu suru, to own formal)持ち物 (mochimono, belongings)気持ち (kimochi, feeling, lit. held mood)

Mnemonic

もつ — 持つ, Yamato. A godan -tsu verb. The kanji 持 is 扌 (hand) + 寺 (to stay) = 'to let stay in the hand' = to hold, to have. One verb holds both the physical and the abstract ── 'to hold in the hand' and 'to own'. Tense divides the meaning ── 持つ (plain form): the momentary act of taking into the hand. 持っている motte iru (the ~ている form): the enduring state, to own. 車を持っている = 'I have a car'. What English splits into hold / have, and Korean into 'deulda / gajida', Japanese splits with one verb plus ている. The loveliest derivative ── 気持ち kimochi (feeling) = 気 (heart) + 持ち (holding) = 'the state of holding a heart in the hand'. To see emotion as something held. The Korean reading ji is sister to the onyomi じ ── 持参 jisan (bringing along).

Quick check

Difference between "motte imasu" and "mochimasu"?