Word Detail

The Japanese verb 掘ります掘ります means "to dig," "to excavate," or "to unearth." It refers to the action of making a hole or removing something from the ground, or any other surface, usually with a tool. It can be used literally, like digging in the earth, or figuratively, like digging into research.

⚫︎庭に穴を掘ります Translation: I dig a hole in the garden. ⚫︎宝物を掘り出します Translation: I dig up the treasure. ⚫︎彼は過去を掘り下げました Translation: He delved into the past.

⚫︎掘ります掘ります is used when you are describing the action of digging or excavating something. ⚫︎It's a common verb and can be used in a variety of contexts, from everyday situations to more formal ones. ⚫︎The context determines what is being dug up - earth, treasure, information, etc.

⚫︎The base form is 掘る掘る (to dig). ⚫︎The polite form, as requested, is 掘ります掘ります. ⚫︎It's written in hiragana as ほります掘ります. ⚫︎The kanji is 掘. ⚫︎Okurigana (the suffix hiragana) can change depending on conjugation. For example, 掘った (dug).

⚫︎発掘します (hakkutsu shimasu) - to excavate ⚫︎埋める (うめる) - to bury (opposite of digging up) ⚫︎掘り出す (ほりだす) - to dig out, to unearth

⚫︎埋めます (うめます) - to bury ⚫︎埋まる (うまる) - to be buried

スコップを使って、土を掘ります。 ・Translation: Using a shovel, I dig the soil. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the act of using a shovel to dig in the ground.

考古学者は古代の遺跡を掘ります。 ・Translation: Archaeologists dig up ancient ruins. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the profession of an archaeologist and their work of excavating ruins.

The etymology of 掘る掘る is not definitively known, but it likely originates from the Old Japanese period. The kanji 掘 combines the radical for "hole" or "cave" (穴 ana) with the phonetic component of “kutsu” (窟) which also relates to a hole or cave, thus directly relating to the act of digging.