godan verb (-mu), transitive verb
General act of reading text, books, or written material.
毎朝、新聞を読む。
I read the newspaper every morning.
この本を読んだことがありますか。
Have you ever read this book?
godan verb (-mu), transitive verb
Used for reciting or chanting aloud, especially sutras or poetry.
お坊さんがお経を読む。
The monk chants a sutra.
godan verb (-mu), transitive verb
predict; guess; read (thoughts)
Figurative use: to read a situation, someone's mind, or the future; to divine or foresee.
彼の表情から気持ちを読むのは難しい。
It's hard to read his feelings from his expression.
占い師が手相を読んでくれた。
A fortune-teller read my palm.
godan verb (-mu), transitive verb
pronounce; read (a kanji)
To pronounce or read a character aloud, especially kanji.
この漢字は何と読むのですか。
How do you read this kanji?
godan verb (-mu), transitive verb
read (a meter, graph, music); tell (the time); decipher
To interpret or read non-textual information: meters, graphs, music scores, clocks, or codes.
検針員がガスメーターを読んだ。
The meter reader read the gas meter.
彼は楽譜を読むのが速い。
He is quick at reading sheet music.
godan verb (-mu), transitive verb
Now mostly used in idioms, e.g. サバを読む (to fudge numbers).
See also: サバを読む
「サバを読む」という表現で、数をごまかす意味になる。
In the expression サバを読む, it means to fudge the numbers.
godan verb (-mu), transitive verb
read with kun'yomi
To read a kanji using its native Japanese reading (kun'yomi). Also written as 訓む.
「山」を「やま」と読むのは訓読みです。
Reading 山 as やま is the kun'yomi.