吠えます（ほえます、hoemasu）
- to bark

The Japanese verb 吠えます 吠えます means "to bark" or "to yap." It refers to the sound that dogs (and sometimes other animals like foxes) make. It is an intransitive verb, meaning it doesn't take a direct object. In other words, something barks, but it doesn't bark "something". The verb describes the action of the animal making a barking sound.

⚫︎犬が 吠えます Translation: The dog barks. ⚫︎あの犬はよく 吠えますね。 Translation: That dog barks a lot, doesn't it?

This verb is primarily used when talking about dogs and their barking behavior. You can use it to describe a dog barking at strangers, at other dogs, or at other things. You can also use it to express the frequency of barking, as shown in the examples. It is usually not used for other types of animal sounds like meowing (猫が鳴きます - neko ga nakimasu) or roaring (ライオンがほえます - raion ga hoemasu).

吠えます is written in hiragana as ほえます. The kanji form is 吠えます 吠えます. The okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is always えます.

There aren't many direct synonyms, but depending on the context, you might use words like: ⚫︎ 鳴きます 鳴きます - "to make a sound" (general term for animal sounds) ⚫︎ キャンキャン鳴きます - "to yap" (often used for smaller dogs)

There are no direct antonyms for "to bark." The opposite would be the dog not making a sound, but there isn't a specific verb for that.

知らない人が来ると、うちの犬は 吠えます。 ・Translation: When strangers come, my dog barks. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the dog's behavior in a specific situation, using the verb 吠えます 吠えます to indicate the action of barking.

夜中に犬が 吠えますので、うるさくて眠れませんでした。 ・Translation: The dog barked during the night, so I couldn't sleep because it was noisy. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 吠えます 吠えます to describe the dog barking during the night and its consequence, highlighting the inconvenience caused by the barking.

The verb 吠えます 吠えます comes from the verb stem 吠え, derived from the Old Japanese verb 吠う, which meant "to bark." The ます ending is a polite conjugation.