Word
並べる
Meaning in Englishline up, arrange side by side
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
What does 並べる mean? It means to place items in a line or order, organizing them by sequence or alignment so they can be viewed or analyzed together.
Main meanings
- to place items side by side in a row or column
- to arrange in a specific order or layout, often for display
- to juxtapose ideas, data, or elements for comparison
How to use it
Used across speaking and writing, in casual to formal registers. It takes a direct object (を) for physical items, and is common in contexts like arranging products, lining up people, or organizing data; typical phrases include 商品を棚に並べる, 人を並べる, 表に項目を並べる.
Variants and close terms
- 整列する (seiretsu suru) — to line up in neat order
- 並べ替える (narabekaeru) — to reorder or sort
- 並ぶ (narabu) — to line up (intransitive)
- 散らす (chirau) — to scatter (antonym)
Composition
- 並: to line up; to arrange; to compare; to equalize
- べる: verb-ending that marks a transitive action, turning the idea into 'to cause to be arranged'
Etymology
naraberu is formed by attaching the transitive suffix -eru to the stem of 並, turning the intransitive sense into a transitive verb; the pronunciation preserves the narabe- cluster before the final -ru in modern Japanese phonology.
Word class
verb (ru-verb, ichidan)
Related words by kanji and components
N1
並びに
narabini
and
N1
軒並
nokinami
row of houses; uniformly
N1
月並
tsukinami
conventional, trite, common
N1
並列
heiretsu
arrangement, parallel, abreast
N2
並木
namiki
roadside tree, row of trees
N2
並行
heikou
(going) side by side, concurrent, at the same time
N3
並
nami
medium (e.g., food serving size, quality, price, etc.), ordinary
N5
並ぶ
narabu
line up, stand in a row