Japanese

かむ
Meaning: to chew; to bite; to stumble over words
Part of Speech: Verb

Listen to pronunciation

Show inflections Hide inflections

Verb inflections

Form Affirmative Negative
Present 噛む 噛まない
Polite 噛みます 噛みません
Past 噛んだ 噛まなかった
Polite + Past 噛みました 噛みませんでした
Te-form 噛んで 噛まなくて
Potential 噛める 噛めない
Passive 噛まれる 噛まれない
Causative 噛ませる 噛ませない
Causative + Passive 噛まされる 噛まされない
Imperative 噛め 噛むな

Handwriting

噛
む

Example sentences

If you don't chew well, it's not good for your digestion.
彼は授業中にずっとガムを噛んでいる。
He has been chewing gum throughout the class.
彼は爪を噛むという悪癖を直さなければならない
He must fix his bad habit of biting his nails.

Usage Notes

Mainly used for chewing food, but also covers biting and, in casual speech, stumbling over words while speaking.

Sottaku

About Sottaku

Sottaku is an app for learning Chinese, Japanese, Korean, English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian with a strong focus on SRS. It includes automatic flashcard creation for hundreds of thousands of words, grammar breakdowns in example sentences, language-specific study packs where available, adaptive quizzes, mobile apps, a browser extension, and community features. Give it a try now! All learning content is free with no limits on flashcards or study time.

Sottaku is built to match the habits of successful learners. By using Sottaku, you will naturally learn in the most efficient way possible, as proven by countless success stories in the language learning community.

Free Forever

Access all grammar guides, quizzes, and flashcards without paying a cent. Quality education should be accessible to everyone.

Smart SRS System

Our flashcard system uses the FSRS algorithm (also used in Anki) to optimize your review schedule and maximize retention.

Comprehensive Content

From hanzi, kana, hangul, and European vocabulary basics to grammar and reading practice where available, we have lessons for every level. Practice with quizzes tailored to your skill.

Community Chat

Ask level-appropriate questions and get help from the community. Learn together with fellow learners across all 8 supported languages.