Explore 捕 through catching animals and apprehending people. Learn each reading in a complete word.

The idea

捕 has 10 strokes; follow the linked diagram. 捕まえる is つかまえる, 捕らえる is とらえる, and 逮捕 is たいほ. The verbs take the thing caught with を.

Patterns to compare
WordReadingExample
捕まえるつかまえるI caught a fish.
捕らえるとらえるThe police apprehended the man who had fled.
逮捕たいほThe culprit was arrested.

Examples

  • 魚さかなを捕つかまえました。I caught a fish.
  • 猫ねこがねずみを捕つかまえました。The cat caught a mouse.
  • 警察けいさつは犯人はんにんを捕つかまえました。The police caught the culprit.
  • 虫むしを捕つかまえて、観察かんさつしました。I caught an insect and observed it.
  • 犯人はんにんが逮捕たいほされました。The culprit was arrested.
  • 警察けいさつは逃にげた男おとこを捕とらえました。The police apprehended the man who had fled.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

捕まえる means catching generally; 逮捕 means arrest by authorities. The reading changes with the word. Compare the left components of 捕 and 浦.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 捕まえる in hiragana.

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    つかまえる

    捕まえる is つかまえる, meaning to catch. Learn the whole word.

  2. Write the reading of 逮捕 in hiragana.

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    たいほ

    逮捕 is たいほ, meaning arrest, as in the example about the culprit.

  3. Choose the missing kanji: 逮＿（たいほ）［捕／浦］.

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    捕

    捕 completes 逮捕（たいほ）, arrest. 浦 has a different left component.

Use it today

Write 捕 using the stroke diagram. Cover the table, read the words, and make a sentence with 捕まえる.