How to say “hand” in Japanese
Japanese people would say “te”. It is the Japanese word for ‘hand’ or ‘hands’. In this blog post, I will explain this word and how to use it through an example sentence. And also, I will explain how to say “one hand” and “both hands” explicitly in Japanese. Let’s get started!Contents
Definition and meaning of “te”
Let me start with the definition and meaning of “te”.- te – 手 (て) : a noun meaning ‘hand’ in Japanese. It can also be used as a plural noun meaning ‘hands’. Learn more about Japanese plural.
Then, let me explain how to use this word through the example sentence below.
Example #1: how to say “hand” in Japanese
kare wa watashi no te wo nigit ta – 彼は私の手を握った (かれはわたしのてをにぎった)
He held my hand.
He held my hand.
- kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, it is used after the pronoun, “kare”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- no – の : a case particle used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, it is used after the pronoun, “watashi”, to make its possessive case, “watashi no“, which means ‘my’ in Japanese.
- wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, it is used after the noun phrase, “watashi no te”, to make the object in the sentence.
- nigit – 握っ (にぎっ) : one conjugation of the verb, “nigiru”, which means ‘to hold’ in Japanese. It has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb put after a verb, adjective, auxiliary verb, or phrase to make its past tense form. In the example, it is put after the conjugated verb, “nigit”, to make its past tense form, “nigit ta”.
Again, but the border between singular and plural nouns in Japanese is ambiguous. From this Japanese example sentence, therefore, we can not see whether he held one hand or both hands. When we want to avoid the ambiguity, the following two words are helpful.
One hand in Japanese: katate
Below is the Japanese word for ‘one hand’.- katate – 片手 (かたて) : a noun meaning ‘one hand’ in Japanese.
Example #2: how to say “one hand” in Japanese
kare wa watashi no katate wo nigit ta – 彼は私の片手を握った (かれはわたしのかたてをにぎった)
He held one of my hands.
He held one of my hands.
Both hands in Japanese: ryoute
Next, then, let me explain how to say “both hands” in Japanese.- ryoute – 両手 (りょうて) : a noun meaning ‘both hands’ in Japanese.
Example #3: how to say “both hands” in Japanese
kare wa watashi no ryoute wo nigit ta – 彼は私の両手を握った (かれはわたしのりょうてをにぎった)
He held both of my hands.
He held both of my hands.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the word, “te”, and how to use it through the example sentence. And also, I’ve explained how to say “one hand” and “both hands” explicitly in Japanese. Let me summarize them as follows.- te – 手 (て) : a noun meaning ‘hand’ in Japanese. It can also be used as a plural noun meaning ‘hands’. In the Japanese language, the border between singular and plural nouns is ambiguous. So, normally, we can not clearly see whether this word means ‘one hand’ or ‘both hands’.
- katate – 片手 (かたて) : a noun meaning ‘one hand’ in Japanese. These two kanji characters literally mean ‘one hand’. So, when we want to say “one hand” explicitly, this word is helpful.
- ryoute – 両手 (りょうて) : a noun meaning ‘both hands’ in Japanese. These two kanji characters literally mean ‘both hands’. So, when we want to say “both hands” explicitly, this word is helpful.
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