帰る
kaeru[ka̠e̞ɾɯ̟]
To go home in Japanese is to say 帰る (kaeru).
The verb 帰る means to go back or to return to a place where one belongs, such as one's home or one's country. You can say 家に帰る as a simple way to express going home, or use the more formal expression 帰宅する to mean returning home.
Meaning: return to one's house (verb)
Which one should you use?
While 帰る is used to return to a home base or a place of belonging, it is distinct from 行く, which simply means to go to a destination.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Okinawan dialect, the phrase ウチニナー translates to going back home.
How does it change in a sentence?
The polite form of 帰る is 帰ります, and the past tense is 帰った.
How do you pronounce it?
kaeru
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use the verb 戻る to mean "go home," but 戻る specifically means to return to a previous position or state, whereas 帰る implies returning to a home base.
Did you know?
- In a professional setting, coworkers may use お先に失礼します ('I am being rude by leaving before you') as a social ritual before actually using 帰る to go home.
- Even though 帰る and 返る are pronounced the same, they use different kanji to distinguish between 'returning home' and 'returning to a previous state'.
- The formal version 帰宅する uses a kanji compound that literally translates to 'returning to the house', stripping away the emotional nuance of 'belonging' found in 帰る.
Examples in context
- 家に帰るよ。I leave to go home.This sentence is useful for saying you are leaving to go home.Tatoeba #187096 by bunbuku, translation #24233 by AMIKEMA
- もう帰る時間よ。It's already time to go home.This sentence is useful for stating the time to go home.Tatoeba #11559513 by small_snow, translation #31404 by TRANG
- 家に帰る時間だよ。It's time to go home.Tatoeba #216467 by small_snow, translation #697418 by Eldad
- 友達と一緒に遊んだ後は家に帰るつもりです。After playing with my friend, I plan to go home.
- 今日は早めに仕事を終わらせて帰宅する予定です。I plan to finish work early today and go home.
- 31 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hiroto and Himari are talking at a cafe after work.
- 大翔 Hirotoそろそろ帰る？Sorosoro kaeru?Shall we head home soon?
- 陽葵 Himariうん、今日は早く帰る。Un, kyou wa hayaku kaeru.Yeah, I'm going home early today.
- 大翔 Hirotoじゃあ、また明日。Jaa, mata ashita.Well, see you tomorrow.
- 陽葵 Himariまた明日ね、お疲れ様。Mata ashita ne, otsukaresama.See you tomorrow, good work.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “go home” translations and entries 帰る, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
