分かります（わかります、wakarimasu）
- to understand

The Japanese word 分かります (読み方: わかります, romaji: *wakarimasu*) generally means "to understand," "I understand," or "do you understand?". It expresses comprehension or the ability to grasp information, ideas, or concepts. It can be used to indicate that you understand something that has been explained to you, or to ask if someone else understands. The meaning is not limited to simple understanding; it can encompass comprehension, agreement, and sometimes even knowing something. The context determines the exact nuance.

⚫︎日本語が分かりますか？ ・Translation: Do you understand Japanese? ⚫︎はい、分かります。 ・Translation: Yes, I understand. / Yes, I do. ⚫︎意味が分かります。 ・Translation: I understand the meaning.

⚫︎分かります is a very common and versatile word in Japanese. ⚫︎It is typically used in polite situations, especially when speaking to someone you respect or when you're in a more formal setting. ⚫︎You can use it to reply to a question, express your understanding of a concept, or to check if someone else comprehends something. ⚫︎The polite form, as in 分かります, is often used. The plain form 分かる (wakaru) is used in casual conversations with friends and family. ⚫︎When asking if someone understands, you can add か (ka) at the end, as in 分かりますか？ (wakarimasu ka?), which makes the sentence a question. ⚫︎To express "I don't understand," you would use 分かりません (wakarimasen). The plain form would be 分からない (wakaranai). ⚫︎The negative form 分かりません is useful when a speaker is explaining something, or in a school class when a professor is teaching and the student doesn't comprehend the lesson.

⚫︎The word 分かります is typically written in hiragana as わかります. ⚫︎The kanji form is 分かります, where 分 (wa) means "to divide, understand" and かります is the polite, present affirmative ending to the verb stem 分か (wa-ka). ⚫︎The okurigana (suffix hiragana) is standard. ⚫︎The more casual form, 分かる (wakaru) is written with the kanji 分. ⚫︎Variations in okurigana don't exist.

⚫︎理解できます (rikaidekimasu) - "I can understand," "I comprehend." It is more formal. ⚫︎分かった (wakatta) - "I understood," past tense, casual form. ⚫︎了解しました (ryoukai shimashita) - "I understand" (formal, often used in business settings). ⚫︎承知しました (shouchi shimashita) - "I understand" (very formal). ⚫︎把握しました (hakushu shimashita) - "I grasped" (formal, to grasp a situation) ⚫︎分かる (wakaru) - Casual form. ⚫︎分かった (wakatta) - Casual, past tense. ⚫︎理解する (rikaisuru) - "To understand." A verb.

⚫︎分かりません (wakarimasen) - "I don't understand." (polite) ⚫︎分からない (wakaranai) - "I don't understand." (casual) ⚫︎理解できない (rikaidekinai) - "I can't understand."

先生の説明はとても分かりやすくて、よく分かります。 ・Translation: The teacher's explanation is very easy to understand, and I understand it well. ・Explanation: This sentence demonstrates how 分かります is used to express comprehension of something that is explained.

この問題が分かりません。教えてください。 ・Translation: I don't understand this problem. Please teach me. ・Explanation: This example shows the negative form 分かりません and how it leads to a request for help.

The kanji 分 (wa) has multiple meanings, including "to divide," "to separate," and "to understand." The etymology of 分かります comes from this kanji's meaning of "to divide," figuratively representing the process of breaking down information into understandable parts or grasping a concept. The suffix stem か is added to make a verb. The polite form of the verb is created by adding ます (masu). Thus, the word conveys the ability to “divide” and “comprehend”, meaning "to understand."