死ぬ

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 祖父が去年死にました。▶ —
   My grandfather died last year.
2. 電池が死んだ。▶ —
   The battery is dead.

Collocations

Mnemonic

しぬ — 死ぬ, Yamato. A godan verb. The only godan verb in Japanese that ends in -ぬ ── every other verb ends in -u, -tsu, -ru, -bu, -mu, -ku, -gu, or -su. 死ぬ alone is -nu. A word standing alone in the conjugation table. The kanji 死 is 歹 (bone) + 匕 (a person bowed down) ── a pictograph of death itself. Register matters ── 死ぬ: blunt. Natural for animals, devices, batteries, but rough for a person's death. 亡くなる nakunaru: the polite way to speak of a person's death ── 'to pass away'. In daily speech about people, this is the default. It maps exactly onto the Korean split between 'jukda' and 'doragasida' ── there is a layer of courtesy in speaking of death. The Korean reading sa is sister to the onyomi し.

Quick check

1. When a boss's grandfather has died, the polite phrasing is?

   • お祖父様がお亡くなりになりました (correct, honorific)
   • 上司のおじいさんは死にました (too blunt)
   • おじいさんが死んだ (casual + blunt)
   • 上司のおじさんは~ (おじさん is uncle, not grandfather)