見せる

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
見
み Grade: 1
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese 見す (misu), following 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”).

Development

Natural progression from Old and Classical Japanese 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs ending in -u to modern Japanese 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”) verbs ending in -eru.

First cited to the Man'yōshū, circa 759 CE.^[1]

Analyzable as 見 (mi, the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 見(み)る (miru, “to see; to look at”)) +‎ す (-su, causative suffix, corresponding to modern せる (-seru)).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) みせる [mìséꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [mʲise̞ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 見せる

Plain	見せる	みせる	`[mìséꜜrù]`
Conjunctive	見せて	みせて	`[míꜜsètè]`
Perfective	見せた	みせた	`[míꜜsètà]`
Negative	見せない	みせない	`[mìséꜜnàì]`
Negative perfective	見せなかった	みせなかった	`[mìséꜜnàkàttà]`
Hypothetical conditional	見せれば	みせれば	`[mìséꜜrèbà]`
Past conditional	見せたら	みせたら	`[míꜜsètàrà]`
Imperative	見せろ見せよ	みせろみせよ	`[mìséꜜrò]` `[mìséꜜyò]`
Volitional	見せよう	みせよー	`[mìséyóꜜò]`
Desiderative	見せたい	みせたい	`[mìsétáꜜì]`
Formal	見せます	みせます	`[mìsémáꜜsù]`
Formal negative	見せません	みせません	`[mìsémáséꜜǹ]`
Formal volitional	見せましょう	みせましょー	`[mìsémáshóꜜò]`
Formal perfective	見せました	みせました	`[mìsémáꜜshìtà]`
Continuative	見せ見せに	みせみせに	`[míꜜsè]` `[míꜜsè nì]`
Negative continuative	見せず見せずに	みせずみせずに	`[mìséꜜzù]` `[mìséꜜzù nì]`
Passive	見せられる	みせられる	`[mìséráréꜜrù]`
Causative	見せさせる見せさす	みせさせるみせさす	`[mìsésáséꜜrù]` `[mìsésáꜜsù]`
Potential	見せられる見せれる	みせられるみせれる	`[mìséráréꜜrù]` `[mìséréꜜrù]`

Verb

見(み)せる • (miseru) transitive ichidan (stem 見(み)せ (mise), past 見(み)せた (miseta))

Japanese verb pair
causative	見(み)せる
active	見(み)る
mediopassive	見(み)える

to show
写(しゃ)真(しん)を人(ひと)に見(み)せる
shashin o hito ni miseru
show someone a picture
魅せる: to show off; to demonstrate a skill or talent
used as a 補助動詞 (hojo dōshi), after a verb in the て (-te) conjunctive form: to show one's ability or determination to do something; to set an example by doing something

Conjugation

Conjugation of "見せる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	見せ	みせ	mise
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	見せ	みせ	mise
Shūshikei ("terminal")	見せる	みせる	miseru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	見せる	みせる	miseru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	見せれ	みせれ	misere
Meireikei ("imperative")	見せよ¹ 見せろ²	みせよ¹ みせろ²	miseyo¹ misero²
Key constructions
Passive	見せられる	みせられる	miserareru
Causative	見せさせる見せさす	みせさせるみせさす	misesaseru misesasu
Potential	見せられる見せれる³	みせられるみせれる³	miserareru misereru³
Volitional	見せよう	みせよう	miseyō
Negative	見せない見せぬ見せん	みせないみせぬみせん	misenai misenu misen
Negative continuative	見せず	みせず	misezu
Formal	見せます	みせます	misemasu
Perfective	見せた	みせた	miseta
Conjunctive	見せて	みせて	misete
Hypothetical conditional	見せれば	みせれば	misereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Related terms

見(み)る (miru)

References

^ “見”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō
^ Hirayama, Teruo, editor (1960), 全国アクセント辞典 (Zenkoku Akusento Jiten, “Nationwide Accent Dictionary”) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō, →ISBN

“見せる”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

[1] “見”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[SMK2-2] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō

[ZAJ-3] Hirayama, Teruo, editor (1960), 全国アクセント辞典 (Zenkoku Akusento Jiten, “Nationwide Accent Dictionary”) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō, →ISBN

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