Meanings
- 1to understand; to comprehend; to graspu-verb (る)intransitive
- 2to become clear; to be known; to be discoveredu-verb (る)intransitive
- 3I know!; I think so too!interjection
JMdict 1606560
Conjugation
| Form | Conjugated | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Polite Present (~masu) | わかります | わかります |
| Polite Past (~mashita) | わかりました | わかりました |
| Polite Negative (~masen) | わかりません | わかりません |
| Plain Negative (~nai) | わからない | わからない |
| Te-form (Connecting) | わかって | わかって |
| Plain Past (~ta) | わかった | わかった |
| Potential (Can do) | わかれる | わかれる |
In a sentence
Do you understand Japanese?
How it works
が (subject) marks 日本語 (Japanese) as the thing being understood — Japanese treats it as the subject, where English would call it the object of "understand". The verb 分かる (understand) stays in its plain dictionary form, and there's no polite です (is) or ます (polite), so this is casual. With a rising tone, that plain form becomes a question all by itself — no question word needed.