What does 励む mean?
励む is a Japanese verb meaning “to be zealous, to make an effort” in English. It is written as 励む in kanji, はげむ in hiragana, and hagemu in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N1 vocabulary.
Example sentence
今まで以上にいっそう勉強に励みなさい。
You should study even more than before.
Conjugation of 励む
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | 励むはげむ | 励まないはげまない |
| Plain past | 励んだはげんだ | 励まなかったはげまなかった |
| Polite | 励みますはげみます | 励みませんはげみません |
| Polite past | 励みましたはげみました | 励みませんでしたはげみませんでした |
Other forms
Te-form励んではげんで
Potential励めるはげめる
Passive励まれるはげまれる
Volitional励もうはげもう
Causative励ませるはげませる
Conditional励めばはげめば
,
Transitive partner
励む (it happens by itself)·励ます (someone does it)
励む describes something happening by itself. 励ます describes someone doing it to something. Japanese keeps these apart where English often uses one verb for both.