Meaning

Primary

To Be Caught

Alternative

To Get Caught

Word Type

intransitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means catch so the intransitive verb vocab version is to be caught. This is a literal, physical catch. So, for example, you can catch a criminal using this verb but not catch the drift of an idea, which would be 捕える, coming up in level 27.

Reading

つかまる
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

The reading is つか, so to remember that with to be caught, think about how you're a police officer trying to catch some criminals. Unfortunately, they have split up into two cars (つか) meaning you won't catch both of them, since you only have one car.

Context

Context Sentences

最初スピード違反で止められたんだけど、その後飲酒運転で捕まっちゃったんだよ。

At first I was just stopped for speeding, but I ended up being caught for drunk driving.

Kanji Composition