起きる
okiru[o̞kʲiɾɯ̟]
In Japanese, "get up" is said as 起きる (okiru).
起きる is primarily used to mean rising from one's bed. It can also be used in certain contexts to mean standing up from a seated or lying position. If you specifically want to say "to wake up early," use 早起きする.
Meaning: to rise from one's bed (verb)
Which one should you use?
Unlike English, which distinguishes between "waking up" and "getting up", 起きる can cover both the act of waking and the act of physically rising from bed.
How does it change in a sentence?
The dictionary form 起きる is used in casual speech or to state a general fact. For the past tense, use 起きた to indicate that someone has already gotten up or woken up.
How do you pronounce it?
okiru
Did you know?
- In certain contexts, 起きる can describe an event or a phenomenon 'occurring' or 'happening', such as an accident.
- In Japanese, the phrase 早起き meaning 'early rising' is linked to the proverb 早起きは三文の徳, which suggests that waking up early brings a small but certain profit.
- Japanese has a specific noun 寝相 to describe the way someone's body is positioned while they sleep, which determines how they look when they finally 起きる.
Examples in context
- 起きる時間よ。Time to get up.This sentence shows how to state it is time to get up using 起きる.Tatoeba #182969 by small_snow, translation #20090 by CM
- 起きる時間だ。It's time to get up.Tatoeba #545842 by bunbuku, translation #442011 by CK
- いつ起きるの？When are you going to get up?This sentence shows how to ask when someone is going to get up using 起きる.Tatoeba #12934047 by small_snow, translation #8859113 by sundown
- お早うございます、先生。お起きになりましたか？Good morning, teacher. Have you woken up?
- お早うございます、社長。お起きになりましたか？Good morning, Mr. President. Have you woken up?
- はい、もう起きております。Yes, I'm already awake.
- 42 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Misaki wakes up her brother Youta in the morning.
- 美咲 Misaki陽太、早く起きて！Youta, hayaku okite!Youta, get up quickly!
- 陽太 Yotaあと五分だけ寝かせて。Ato gofun dake nekasete.Let me sleep for five more minutes.
- 美咲 Misakiもう起きる時間だよ。Mou okiru jikan dayo.It is already time to get up.
- 陽太 Yotaわかった。今起きるよ。Wakatta. Ima okiru yo.I got it. I'll get up now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “get up” translations and entries 起きる, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
