休む expresses resting or taking time off. The examples use polite everyday Japanese.

The idea

休む is a godan verb. 休みます is polite non-past, 休みません negative, 休みました past and 休んで the て-form. を marks the school or work one is absent from; で can mark the place of rest.

Patterns to compare
Dictionary formPolite non-pastPolite negativePolite pastて-formPlain negative
休やすむ休やすみます休やすみません休やすみました休やすんで休やすまない

Examples

  • 午後ごご、少すこし休やすみます。I will rest a little in the afternoon.
  • 日曜日にちようびは仕事しごとを休やすみます。I take Sunday off work.
  • 昨日きのう、学校がっこうを休やすみました。Yesterday I was absent from school.
  • 今日きょうは休やすみません。I will not take a break today.
  • ここで少すこし休やすんでください。Please rest here for a little while.
  • 疲つかれましたから、家いえで休やすみます。I am tired, so I will rest at home.

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

Watch out

休む can mean taking a break or being absent; it does not always mean sleeping, which is 寝る.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the particle in brackets. 学校がっこう＿休やすみます。（を／に）

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    を

    を is correct. を marks the school or work one is absent from; で can mark the place of rest.

  2. Complete the ending to make the verb’s て-form. ここで休やす＿ください。（休やすむ→て）

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    んで

    んで completes 休んで. 休んで is the て-form of 休む; it joins actions or precedes ください in a request.

  3. Complete the ending to make the polite past. 昨日きのう、学校がっこうを休やす＿。（休やすむ→ました）

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    みました

    みました completes 休みました. 休みました is the polite past of 休む; 昨日 places the event yesterday.

Use it today

Adapt an example with 休む to your own life, then put it into the polite past. Check the particle and verb form.