Slip and slide: 滑る

The idea

滑る is an intransitive godan verb meaning to slip or slide. The moving person or thing takes が or は; で marks the place of an event, while を can mark a route travelled. Its polite stem is 滑り and its て form is 滑って.

Examples

• 雨あめの日ひは床ゆかが滑すべります。The floor is slippery on rainy days.
• 氷こおりの上うえで滑すべって転ころびました。I slipped on the ice and fell.
• 子こどもたちは雪ゆきの坂さかをそりで滑すべります。The children slide down the snowy slope on sleds.
• この靴くつは濡ぬれた道みちでも滑すべりません。These shoes do not slip even on wet roads.
• 手てが滑すべって皿さらを落おとしました。My hand slipped and I dropped a plate.
• 彼かれはスキーで山やまを滑すべりました。He skied down the mountain.

Watch out

滑る does not necessarily mean falling: 滑って転ぶ explicitly adds a fall. Although it ends in る, it is godan, so its て form is not 滑りて.

Try it yourself

1. Write the polite non-past form: ＿。（滑る→ます）

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   滑ります

   滑ります is the polite non-past; context determines present or future.

2. Write the て form: ＿。（滑る→て）

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   滑って

   滑って is the godan て form, formed with a small っ.

3. Choose the natural result: 氷こおりの上うえで滑すべって＿。（転びました／食べました）

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   転びました

   転びました means “fell”; slipping on ice naturally leads to a fall.

Use it today

Describe a slippery place, then make a sentence about sliding along a slope and check the particles.