What does “inori” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “inori” to mean ‘prayer’, ‘wish’, ‘grace’, or such in Japanese. In this blog post, I will explain this word in detail based on its grammatical components. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “inori” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “inori”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “inori”.
- inori – 祈り (いのり) : a noun meaning ‘prayer’, ‘wish’, ‘grace’, or such in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.
Native speakers use this noun to refer to a prayer or the act of praying. So, its usage is similar to those of the English nouns: “prayer”, “wish”, and “grace”.
The definition and meanings are not so difficult, I think. To better understand this noun, however, let me explain its components in detail, one by one.
Breakdown of “inori”
Grammatically, “inori” consists of the following two components:
- i : a word used to mean ‘life’. This can also be considered as a prefix which adds the meaning of ‘sacred’.
- nori : the noun form of the verb, “noru”, which means ‘to declare’ or ‘to tell’ in the old Japanese language.
From these two components, we can understand that “inori” used to mean ‘sacred declaration’. This meaning seems to remain the same in the modern Japanese language.
When we meet new words, we should check their components in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, components tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “inori” through the detailed check above. Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “prayer” in Japanese
watashi wa inori no chikara wo shinjiru – 私は祈りの力を信じる (わたしはいのりのちからをしんじる)
I believe in the power of prayer.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “watashi” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- no – の : a case particle used to join two nouns. Normally, the first noun can work as a modifier to describe the second. In the example, this is used to join “inori” and “chikara”. The formed phrase literally means ‘the power of prayer’ in Japanese. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this case particle is similar to that of the English preposition, “of”.
- chikara – 力 (ちから) : a noun meaning ‘power’ in Japanese.
- wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “inori no chikara” to make the object in the sentence.
- shinjiru – 信じる (しんじる) : a verb meaning ‘to believe’ in Japanese.
This is a typical usage of “inori”. In this example, it works as a part of the phrase, “inori no chikara”, to say “the power of prayer” in Japanese. When we want to refer to a prayer or the act of praying in Japanese, this noun is a very good option.
Example #2: another usage of “inori”
kare no inori ga todoi ta – 彼の祈りが届いた (かれのいのりがとどいた)
His prayer was answered.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
- no – の : a case particle used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, this is used after “kare” to make its possessive case, “kare no”, which means ‘his’ in Japanese. This can be considered as a special use case of “no” explained in the last example.
- ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “inori” to make the subject in the sentence.
- todoi – 届い (とどい) : one conjugation of the verb, “todoku”, which means ‘to reach’, ‘to deliver’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, this is used after “todoi” to make its past tense form, “todoi ta”.
This is another typical usage of “inori”. In this example, it works as a part of the commonly-used phrase, “inori ga todoi ta”, which means ‘a prayer was answered’ in Japanese. This should be learnt together with its present tense form, “inori ga todoku”, which means ‘a prayer is answered’ in Japanese.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “inori” in detail based on its grammatical components. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- inori – 祈り (いのり) : a noun meaning ‘prayer’, ‘wish’, ‘grace’, or such in Japanese. This can also work as plural. This noun used to mean ‘sacred declaration’ in the old Japanese language. This meaning seems to remain the same in the modern Japanese language. Native speakers use this noun to refer to a prayer or the act of praying.
- inori ga todoku – 祈りが届く (いのりがとどく) : a commonly-used phrase meaning ‘a prayer is answered’ in Japanese.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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