持てる

Japanese

Kanji in this term
持
も Grade: 3
kun'yomi

Etymology

From the regular potential conjugation of verb 持つ (motsu, “to have, to possess; to have on hand, to hold”).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] The popular sense arose as a slight shift in meaning from "able to have" to something like "able to get (particularly, positive attention)".

First attested in the popular sense in a text from 1753.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) もてる [mòtéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [2])^[3]^[4]^[3]
IPA^(key): [mo̞te̞ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「もてる」

Stem forms
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	もてる	もてる	`[mòtéꜜrù]`
Imperative (命令形)	もてろ	もてろ	`[mòtéꜜrò]`
Key constructions
Passive	もてられる	もてられる	`[mòtéráréꜜrù]`
Causative	もてさせる	もてさせる	`[mòtésáséꜜrù]`
Potential	-	-	-
Volitional	もてよう	もてよー	`[mòtéyóꜜò]`
Negative	もてない	もてない	`[mòtéꜜnàì]`
Negative perfective	もてなかった	もてなかった	`[mòtéꜜnàkàttà]`
Formal	もてます	もてます	`[mòtémáꜜsù]`
Perfective	もてた	もてた	`[móꜜtètà]`
Conjunctive	もてて	もてて	`[móꜜtètè]`
Hypothetical conditional	もてれば	もてれば	`[mòtéꜜrèbà]`

Verb

持(も)てる or 持(モ)てる • (moteru) intransitive ichidan (stem 持(も)て (mote), past 持(も)てた (moteta))

[from 1753] (colloquial) to be popular, to be well-liked by people (e.g. to be popular among women)
山(やま)田(だ)君(くん)ってさ、同(おな)じ学(がく)年(ねん)の女(じょ)子(し)には人(にん)気(き)ないけど、下(か)級(きゅう)生(せい)にはモテるんだよね。
Yamada-kun tte sa, onaji gakunen no joshi ni wa ninki nai kedo, kakyūsei ni wa moteru n da yo ne.
Yamada isn't very popular with the girls in his school year, but he's popular amongst the younger students.
[from 1600s] potential form of 持つ (motsu) [godan]: to be able to have or hold
[from 1600s] to withstand, to endure

Usage notes

The popular sense may be encountered more commonly with the spelling モテる instead.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "持てる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	持て	もて	mote
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	持て	もて	mote
Shūshikei ("terminal")	持てる	もてる	moteru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	持てる	もてる	moteru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	持てれ	もてれ	motere
Meireikei ("imperative")	持てよ¹ 持てろ²	もてよ¹ もてろ²	moteyo¹ motero²
Key constructions
Passive	持てられる	もてられる	moterareru
Causative	持てさせる持てさす	もてさせるもてさす	motesaseru motesasu
Potential	持てられる持てれる³	もてられるもてれる³	moterareru motereru³
Volitional	持てよう	もてよう	moteyō
Negative	持てない持てぬ持てん	もてないもてぬもてん	motenai motenu moten
Negative continuative	持てず	もてず	motezu
Formal	持てます	もてます	motemasu
Perfective	持てた	もてた	moteta
Conjunctive	持てて	もてて	motete
Hypothetical conditional	持てれば	もてれば	motereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Derived terms

喪男(もお) (moo), 喪男(もおとこ) (mootoko), 喪男(もだん) (modan)
喪女(もおんな) (moonna), 喪女(もじょ) (mojo)
非(ひ)モテ (himote)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “持”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^ “持てる”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ2-1] 1.0 ^1.1 “持”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[DDJS-2] “持てる”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months

[DJR-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[SMK5-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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