歩く
aruku[a̠ɾɯ̟kɯ̟]
To walk in Japanese is 歩く (aruku).
The verb 歩く is used to describe the physical act of moving on one's feet. You may encounter related terms such as 歩き, which can function as a noun to describe the act of walking or a specific walking style. In baseball, the concept of 'walking' a batter is expressed using 四球 or フォアボール.
Meaning: to move on the feet (verb)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb 歩く can be conjugated into several forms: the past tense is 歩いた (walked), and the negative form is 歩かない (do not walk or will not walk). The polite form is 歩きます.
How do you pronounce it?
aruku
Did you know?
- The phrase 歩く is essential to the concept of 歩行者天国 (hokōsha tengoku), which translates to 'pedestrian paradise'. These are designated streets in cities like Ginza that are closed to cars on weekends.
- While 歩く means to move on foot, the term 歩み寄る (ayumiyoru) uses the same root to mean 'to compromise' or 'to reach a middle ground' in a disagreement.
- The kanji for 歩 is a pictogram representing two feet and a person, reflecting the ancient way of visualizing movement.
Examples in context
- 歩くと遠いですか。Is it too far to walk?This sentence is useful for asking about the distance of a walk using 歩く.Tatoeba #83205 by small_snow, translation #320512 by CK
- 彼は歩くつもりだ。He will walk.This sentence shows the use of 歩く to express intention.Tatoeba #100084 by bunbuku, translation #303613 by CK
- 芝生の上を歩くな。Don't walk on the grass.This sentence shows a command using 歩く regarding walking on grass.Tatoeba #149265 by small_snow, translation #265293 by CK
- 「公園を歩きます。」I walk in the park.
- 66 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daito and Misaki are deciding how to get to the station.
- 大翔 Hiroto駅まで歩く？Eki made aruku?Shall we walk to the station?
- 美咲 Misakiいいよ。ゆっくり歩こう。Ii yo. Yukkuri arukou.Sure. Let's walk slowly.
- 大翔 Hiroto今日は天気がいいからね。Kyou wa tenki ga ii kara ne.The weather is nice today, after all.
- 美咲 Misakiうん、歩くのが気持ちいいね。Un, aruku no ga kimochi ii ne.Yeah, walking feels great.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “walk” translations and entries 歩く, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
