Word Detail

The Japanese verb 泊まります (読み方：とまります - *tomarimasu*) primarily means "to stay overnight," "to stay at," or "to lodge." It refers to spending the night at a particular place, such as a hotel, a friend's house, or a traditional inn. The word implies a temporary place of residence for the night. The place where one spends the night is often implied by context or explicitly stated.

⚫︎ホテルに 泊まります Translation: I will stay at the hotel. ⚫︎友達の家に 泊まりました。 Translation: I stayed at my friend's house. ⚫︎週末は温泉に 泊まりに行きます。 Translation: I'm going to stay at a hot spring resort this weekend.

⚫︎泊まります is used when discussing plans or actions related to staying somewhere overnight. ⚫︎ It can be used in the present tense to describe a current or habitual action, or in the future tense to describe a planned event. ⚫︎ The location is usually indicated by a particle like に (ni - at/in/to) or で (de - at/in) following the place. ⚫︎ It is a versatile verb, and can be used in both formal and informal situations, though the polite form 泊まります is more common in general conversation.

⚫︎ This word is typically written in hiragana as とまります. ⚫︎ The kanji form is 泊まります. The kanji 泊 means "to stay overnight" or "to moor (a ship)". ⚫︎ The okurigana (hiragana following the kanji) is まります. ⚫︎ The various conjugations include: 　　　　　・泊まります (masu-stem, polite present/future) 　　　　　・泊まりました (polite past) 　　　　　・泊まりたい (want to stay) 　　　　　・泊まらない (negative present/future) 　　　　　・泊まらなかった (negative past) 　　　　　・泊まれば (conditional)

⚫︎ 宿泊します (*shukuhaku shimasu*) - "to stay," "to lodge" (more formal) ⚫︎ 滞在します (*taizai shimasu*) - "to stay," "to reside" (implies a longer stay) ⚫︎ お泊まりします (*otomarishimasu*) - a more polite or casual form of 泊まります, often used when staying at a friend's or relative's home.

⚫︎ There is no single direct antonym. The opposite concept would be "not staying" or "leaving" or similar actions.

明日は、東京のホテルに 泊まります。 ・Translation: I will stay at a hotel in Tokyo tomorrow. ・Explanation: This sentence indicates a future plan to spend the night at a hotel in Tokyo. The particle に marks the location of the stay.

先週は、祖父母の家に 泊まりました。 ・Translation: I stayed at my grandparents' house last week. ・Explanation: This sentence uses the past tense to describe a past action, staying at the grandparents' house.

The verb 泊まります comes from the verb stem 泊まる (*tomaru*), which means "to stay overnight" or "to moor (a ship)." The verb stem is combined with the polite verb suffix ます (*masu*) to form 泊まります (*tomarimasu*). The kanji 泊originally refers to the act of mooring a ship. The meaning expanded to include the act of staying in a place.