Word
Kana: おとずれる Romaji: otozureru Level: N1

訪れる

Meaning in English

to visit

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Word context

What it means

訪れる means to go to a place or person, usually to meet or observe them, and can also describe arriving at a destination.

Main meanings

  • Visiting a person or place; calling on someone
  • Going to a place for a purpose (sightseeing, inquiry, inspection)
  • Arriving at or reaching a destination
  • Describing a travel narrative or event as a visit

How to use it

Used in everyday speech and formal writing to describe visiting a person or place; commonly paired with を to mark the visited location, and conjugates across tenses; in formal contexts, 訪問する may be preferred.

Variants and close terms

  • 訪ねる (tazuneru) — to visit or call on, often a more personal or casual nuance
  • 訪問する (hōmon suru) — to visit in a formal, official sense
  • 来訪する (raihō suru) — to make a visit, often in formal announcements
  • 伺う (ukagau) — humble form used when the speaker visits someone

Composition

  • 訪: core meaning to visit or call on; conveys approaching a person/place with intention; the verb ending -れる marks it as a verb form

Etymology

Derived from the kun'yomi verb form combined with the -eru conjugation; the modern reading otozureru arises from historical phonetic changes typical of -eru verbs.

Word class

verb (ichidan)

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