持てる

Japanese
Kanji in this term
持
も
Grade: 3
kun’yomi

Etymology

From the regular potential conjugation of verb 持つ (motsu, “to have, to possess; to have on hand, to hold”).[1][2][3][4] The popular sense arose as a slight shift in meaning from "able to have" to something like "able to get (particularly, positive attention)".

First attested in the popular sense in a text from 1753.[1]

Pronunciation
  • Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "もてる"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形)
Attributive (連体形)		 もてる もて​る [mòtéꜜrù]
Imperative (命令形) もてろ もて​ろ [mòtéꜜrò]
Key constructions
Passive もてられる もてられ​る [mòtéráréꜜrù]
Causative もてさせる もてさせ​る [mòtésáséꜜrù]
Potential - - -
Volitional もてよう もてよ​ー [mòtéyóꜜò]
Negative もてない もて​ない [mòtéꜜnàì]
Negative perfective もてなかった もて​なかった [mòtéꜜnàkàttà]
Formal もてます もてま​す [mòtémáꜜsù]
Perfective もてた も​てた [móꜜtètà]
Conjunctive もてて も​てて [móꜜtètè]
Hypothetical conditional もてれば もて​れば [mòtéꜜrèbà]

Verb

持(も)てる • (moteru) intransitive ichidan (stem 持(も)て (mote), past 持(も)てた (moteta))

  1. [from 1753] (colloquial) to be popular, to be well-liked by people (e.g. be popular among women)
    山(やま)田(だ)君(くん)ってさ、同(おな)じ学(がく)年(ねん)の女(じょ)子(し)には人(にん)気(き)ないけど、下(か)級(きゅう)生(せい)にはモテるんだよね。
    Yamada-kun tte sa, onaji gakunen no joshi ni wa ninki nai kedo, kakyūsei ni wa moteru n da yo ne.
    Yamada isn't very popular with the girls in his school year, but he's popular amongst the younger students.
  2. [from 1600s] to be able to have or hold: potential form of 持(も)つ (motsu)
  3. [from 1600s] to withstand, to endure

Usage notes

The popular sense may be encountered more commonly with the spelling モテる instead.

Conjugation
Conjugation of "持てる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 持て もて mote
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 持て もて mote
Shūshikei ("terminal") 持てる もてる moteru
Rentaikei ("attributive") 持てる もてる moteru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 持てれ もてれ motere
Meireikei ("imperative") 持てよ¹
持てろ²		 もてよ¹
もてろ²		 moteyo¹
motero²
Key constructions
Passive 持てられる もてられる moterareru
Causative 持てさせる
持てさす		 もてさせる
もてさす		 motesaseru
motesasu
Potential 持てられる
持てれる³		 もてられる
もてれる³		 moterareru
motereru³
Volitional 持てよう もてよう moteyō
Negative 持てない
持てぬ
持てん		 もてない
もてぬ
もてん		 motenai
motenu
moten
Negative continuative 持てず もてず motezu
Formal 持てます もてます motemasu
Perfective 持てた もてた moteta
Conjunctive 持てて もてて motete
Hypothetical conditional 持てれば もてれば motereba
¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential

Derived terms

References
  1. “持”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, →ISBN
  2. “持てる”, in デジタル大辞泉 (Dejitaru Daijisen)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  3. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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