What does “yoru” mean in Japanese?
There are homophones, but native speakers say “yoru” often to mean ‘night’ in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word as it is sometimes used in Japanese conversations. In this blog post, however, I will explain it in detail together with example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners understand “yoru” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meaning of “yoru”
Let me start with the definition and meaning of “yoru”.
- yoru – 夜 (よる) : a noun meaning ‘night’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.
The definition and meaning are simple and clear, I think. Then, let me explain how to use this noun through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “night” in Japanese
yoru wa totemo samui desu – 夜はとても寒いです (よるはとてもさむいです)
It is very cold at night.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works as a topic marker after “yoru” to put a focus on it.
- totemo – とても : an adverb of degree meaning ‘very’, ‘much’, ‘so’, or such in Japanese.
- samui – 寒い (さむい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘cold’ in Japanese.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “samui” to make it sound polite.
This is a typical usage of “yoru”. In this example, it works together with the binding particle, “wa”, to mean “at night” in Japanese.
Example #2: another usage of “yoru”
watashi tachi wa hiru yori yoru ga suki desu – 私達は昼より夜が好きです (わたしたちはひるよりよるがすきです)
We like night more than day.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- tachi – 達 (たち) : a suffix used after a noun or pronoun to make its plural form. In the example, this is used after “watashi” to make its plural form, “watashi tachi”, which means ‘we’ in Japanese.
- hiru – 昼 (ひる) : a noun meaning ‘daytime’ or just ‘day’ in Japanese.
- yori – より : a case particle working as a comparison marker. In the example, this works after “hiru” to indicate the target of the comparison. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this case particle is similar to that of “than”.
- 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 “yoru” to make the object in the sentence.
- suki – 好き (すき) : the stem part of the na-adjective, “sukina”, which means ‘favorite’ in Japanese. Native speakers, however, often use this as an individual word to mean ‘to like’ or ‘to love’. In the example, this is used to mean ‘to like’ in Japanese.
This is another typical usage of “yoru”. When we want to say “night” in Japanese, this noun is always a very good option.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meaning of “yoru” in detail together with the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- yoru – 夜 (よる) : a noun meaning ‘night’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. When we want to say “night” in Japanese, this noun is always a very good option.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
