……
Breakdown of kotaeru
answer
答
The answer lies in how the bamboo pieces fit.
Usages of kotaeru
一つ だけ も 答えられません でした。hitotsu dake mo kotaeraremasen deshita.
(He) couldn't even answer one.
質問 に 答えられなかった。shitsumon ni kotaerarenakatta.
I couldn't answer the question.
手 を 上げて 答えて ください。te o agete kotaete kudasai.
Raise your hand and answer, please.
先生 は 生徒 の 質問 に 答えました。sensei wa seito no shitsumon ni kotaemashita.
The teacher answered the student's question.
Test yourself: What does kotaeru mean?
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“How do verb conjugations work in Japanese?”
Japanese verbs conjugate based on tense, politeness, and mood. For example, the polite present form adds ‑ます to the verb stem, while the past tense uses ‑ました. Unlike English, Japanese verbs don't change based on the subject — the same form works for "I", "you", and "they".
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