What is the most common word in Japanese?

Question

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-17 08:18:27Z

6

The most common word, according to pretty much all the frequency lists I've found, is:

　する

Although if you count particles and auxiliaries, then の is probably the most common.

Sources:

CommunityBot

1

answered Mar 30, 2014 at 0:11

user1478

3

I'm surprised to see ぬ in the top 50. Where does it come from...
– Yang Muye
Mar 30, 2014 at 0:35
not うん…?! Unbelievable.
– bright-star
Mar 30, 2014 at 3:06
1

This seems strange to me. It's like saying "... although if you count articles and prepositions, then the is probably the most common." for English. Particles, auxiliaries, prepositions, and articles are just kinds of words. Then again the OP didn't specify.
– hippietrail
Mar 30, 2014 at 7:23
2

@hippietrail It depends on your theory of grammar. Do you consider 及ばない one word or two? Is 私の one word or two? The truth is, "word" isn't well-defined.
– user1478
Mar 30, 2014 at 9:24
@snailboat: That is certainly true, which is why an answer shouldn't be based on one arbitrarily chosen definition of "word". At least you hedged your bets and gave both answers though (-:
– hippietrail
Mar 30, 2014 at 9:29

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