ひく (引く・弾く): One Verb, Many Meanings (with Examples)
Why one verb has so many meanings
At first glance ひく looks chaotic — what could "pull a door," "catch a cold," and "subtract" possibly have in common? But almost every meaning is a variation on one motion: drawing something toward you, or pulling it out.
You pull a door open. You pull (draw out) a word from inside a dictionary. Subtraction pulls a number away. Drawing a line is dragging the pen toward you across the page. Even catching a cold is, in the old image, the cold being "pulled in." Hold that "pull / draw toward" picture and the long list stops feeling random — it's one idea wearing different outfits. (The instrument meaning 弾く is the one true outlier; we'll handle it separately because it's a different kanji.)
One structural note: ひく is a Group 1 (う-)verb, so it conjugates ひく → ひきます → ひいて → ひかない. Watch the te-form: it's ひいて, not "ひきて."
The meanings, most common first
1. To pull (引く)
ヤッタンはドアを引いて開けた。
ヤッタンは ドアを ひいて あけた。
Yattan pulled the door open.
The opposite of 押す (おす, to push) — you'll see 引く and 押す on doors everywhere.
2. To look up (in a dictionary) (引く)
モチは辞書で言葉を引く。
モチは じしょで ことばを ひく。
Mochi looks up a word in the dictionary.
辞書を引く is a fixed phrase — you 'pull' the word out of the dictionary.
3. To catch a cold (風邪を引く)
ヤッタンの弟は風邪を引いて学校を休んだ。
ヤッタンの おとうとは かぜを ひいて がっこうを やすんだ。
Yattan's little brother caught a cold and stayed home from school.
風邪を引く is a set phrase. Always 引く here — never 弾く.
4. To subtract (引く) — in math
先生は「10引く3は7です」と言った。
せんせいは「じゅう ひく さんは ななです」と いった。
Sensei said, 10 minus 3 is 7.
Read as a plain dictionary form between the numbers: じゅう ひく さん.
5. To draw a line (線を引く)
ヤッタンはノートに線を引いた。
ヤッタンは ノートに せんを ひいた。
Yattan drew a line in his notebook.
6. To play (a stringed or keyboard instrument) (弾く)
モチはピアノを弾くのが上手だ。
モチは ピアノを ひくのが じょうずだ。
Mochi is good at playing the piano.
Same sound ひく, but written 弾く. Used for piano, guitar, violin — instruments your fingers 'pluck' or press.
And it keeps going, all from the same "pull / draw toward" image: くじを引く (to draw a lottery ticket), 手を引く (to lead by the hand / to withdraw), 値段を引く (to knock money off a price). Once the core image clicks, most of them feel intuitive.
Common collocations worth memorizing
Some ひく phrases are so fixed that natives treat them as single chunks. Learn them whole:
| Collocation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 風邪を引く | to catch a cold |
| 辞書を引く | to look up a word in a dictionary |
| 線を引く | to draw a line |
| くじを引く | to draw a lottery ticket / draw lots |
| ピアノを弾く | to play the piano |
| ギターを弾く | to play the guitar |
| 手を引く | to lead by the hand; to pull out / withdraw |
Kanji & related ひく verbs
The base kanji for the "pull / draw" family is 引 — it writes meanings 1 through 5 above (pull, look up, catch a cold, subtract, draw a line). In casual writing ひく is also frequently left in kana.
The big thing to learn here is that the "play an instrument" meaning uses a completely different kanji, 弾く (the same character as in 弾, "to spring / bounce"). Same reading ひく, different kanji, different meaning. So:
- 引く — to pull, look up, catch a cold, subtract, draw a line
- 弾く — to play a stringed or keyboard instrument (piano, guitar, violin)
You may also meet 轢く (ひく, N1) — "to run over (with a vehicle)." It's beyond N5; just know it exists so the reading doesn't surprise you later.
引く vs 弾く — same sound, different kanji
This is the confusion worth nailing: 引く and 弾く are homophones. They sound identical and conjugate identically — only the kanji and the meaning differ.
| Form | Core idea | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 引く (pull / draw) | Pull toward you, or draw something out | 辞書を引く = look up a word; 風邪を引く = catch a cold; 線を引く = draw a line |
| 弾く (play) | Play a stringed or keyboard instrument | ピアノを弾く = play the piano; ギターを弾く = play the guitar |
A quick test: if the object is a dictionary, a cold, a line, or a number, it's 引く. If the object is a musical instrument with strings or keys, it's 弾く. Note too that 風邪を引く and 辞書を引く are fixed phrases — memorize them as set chunks and you'll never reach for the wrong kanji.
Quick recap
- One image powers the 引く family: pull toward you / draw out.
- High-value chunks: 風邪を引く, 辞書を引く, 線を引く, くじを引く.
- 弾く is a different kanji with the same sound — it means to play piano, guitar, violin.
- It's a transitive Group 1 (う-)verb; te-form is ひいて.
Your turn
Ready to test your N5 vocabulary in context?
Start the 5-question drill →Frequently asked questions
Is ひく a ru-verb or u-verb?
ひく is a Group 1 (う-verb / godan) verb: ひく → ひきます → ひいて → ひかない. Note the te-form is ひいて, not 'ひきて.'
Why is 'catch a cold' written 風邪を引く?
It's a fixed phrase using the 'pull' kanji 引く — the cold is, in the old image, 'pulled in.' Always use 引く here, never 弾く.
What is the difference between 引く and 弾く?
They sound the same but use different kanji. 引く means to pull, look up, catch a cold, subtract, or draw a line. 弾く means to play a stringed or keyboard instrument like piano or guitar.
Why does ひく have so many meanings?
The 引く meanings all share one core image — pulling something toward you or drawing it out. Pulling a door, looking up a word, drawing a line, and subtracting are all variations on that single motion.