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I would like to write a sentence to the effect of "the student was afraid to be called on." I have searched all over to find the verb of "calling on" a student and the best I can find is 当たる as provided by this dictionary website (see definition 11).

However, I do know that this verb tends to mean "hit," and I am doubtful of how common 当たる would be used for this context of calling upon a student by a teacher.

Would this word be normally used in this way? Or is there a better, more common way to convey the idea of teachers calling upon a student to answer a question?

1 Answer 1

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We use:

transitive 当てる for "(for a teacher) to call on a student to answer a question", and
intransitive 当たる for "(for a student) to be called on (by a teacher)".

We also use:

[指名]{しめい}する for "(for a teacher) to call on a student".

E.g.

「(生徒が)授業で当たる」
「(生徒が)授業で(先生に)当てられる」
「(先生が)授業で生徒を当てる」
「(先生が)生徒を指名する」
「(生徒が)授業で(先生に)指名される」

(当てる/当たる sounds a little more casual/conversational than 指名する/される.)

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