Meaning

Primary

To Pass Through

Alternatives

To Pass By, To Travel Along

Word Type

intransitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means pass through so the verb vocab version means things like to pass through, to pass by, and to travel along.

Reading

とおる
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

As you try to pass through a narrow space, you stub your toe on something and scream "TOE! OH (とお)!" In your haste to to pass by, you didn't properly check your surroundings, and you slammed your poor toe into something really hard. It hurts like heck, and you spend the rest of your day limping around, whimpering, "toe… oh…"

Context

Patterns of Use

Common Word Combinations

  • 車が通る

    a car passes through, a car passes by

    人が通る

    someone passes through, someone passes by

    火が通る

    to be cooked through

Context Sentences

たくさんの車が通る。

Many cars pass by.

竹の林を通って、会社に行きます。

I pass through a bamboo forest on my way to work.

三丁目のコンビニの前は、毎日通りますよ。

I pass by the convenience store in 3-chome every day.

Kanji Composition