〜びる (~biru) — to look / come to seem ~ (grown-up, old)
A child looking grown-up, a thing looking old — 大人びる, 古びる.
Formula (सूत्र ढाँचा)
Grammar rule (व्याकरण नियम र परिभाषा)
When to use it
Visiting your sister's home for Dashain after three years, you find your twelve-year-old niece now speaks calmly and thoughtfully. Out it comes: 'How grown-up she's become!' In Japanese that is 「ずいぶん大人びたね」.
Meaning
「〜びる」says a person or thing has gradually come to look like N, taken on its air.
How to attach
Attach it as N + びる (大人びる), or drop the 「い」of an い-adjective + びる (古い → 古びる); it conjugates like 「見る」: 大人びて・古びた旅館.
Versus what you know
- N3「大人っぽい」is similar, but it is a casual adjective; 「びる」is a verb and sounds a little more written and graceful — usually for a child who looks more mature than their age, or for a building or object made old by time.
- N2Don't confuse it with the 「大人ぶる」: ぶる = acting grown-up on purpose; びる = looking that way by itself.
Watch out
- The key rule: it lives in very few words — 大人びる・古びる, and the near-fixed phrase 「悪びれる様子もなく」(without the slightest sign of guilt).
- There is no 「子どもびる」; use 「子どもっぽい」or 「子どもじみた」there.
Examples (उदाहरणहरू)
中学生になった姪は、ずいぶん大人びた話し方をするようになった。
ちゅうがくせいになっためいは、ずいぶんおとなびたはなしかたをするようになった。
My niece, now in junior high, has started to talk in a very grown-up way.
How it is built (कसरी बन्यो) 大人 = an adult → we attach 「びる」 → before a noun it's 「びた」: 大人びた話し方 = a grown-up way of talking → she's young, but comes across as mature.
駅前の古びた喫茶店は、四十年前から営業しているそうだ。
えきまえのふるびたきっさてんは、よんじゅうねんまえからえいぎょうしているそうだ。
The old-looking café in front of the station has apparently been open for forty years.
How it is built (कसरी बन्यो) 古い = old → we drop 「い」: 古 → we attach 「びた」: 古びた = looking old with time → the noun 喫茶店 (café) comes after.
彼は会議に一時間も遅れたのに、少しも悪びれる様子がない。
かれはかいぎにいちじかんもおくれたのに、すこしもわるびれるようすがない。
He was an hour late for the meeting, yet he shows no sign of feeling bad at all.
How it is built (कसरी बन्यो) 悪い = bad → 悪 + 「びれる」 (a fixed form) = to show you feel "I did wrong" → 「様子がない」= shows no sign of that at all → it usually appears in negative sentences like this.
Knowledge check (मिनी ज्ञान जाँच)
「祖母の家には、＿＿たんすが今も置いてある。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint: What happens to the 「い」of the い-adjective?
い-adj minus い + びた + N. 古い → 古びたたんす = an old-looking chest of drawers. You can't keep the 「い」, 「ぶる」means pretending, and 「びって」isn't a form.
In which sentence is 「びる」unnatural?
💡 Hint: びる lives in only a few words.
There is no word 「子どもびる」. For an adult acting like a child, say 「子どもっぽい」or 「子どもじみた」. 大人びる・古びる・悪びれる are fine.
「12歳の娘の顔つきが、最近ずいぶん＿＿。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint: The subject is 顔つき (her looks) — can looks put on an act?
大人びる = to come to look grown-up by itself, so 顔つきが大人びてきた is right. 大人ぶる = a person acting grown-up on purpose — a face can't put on an act. ずくめ and ぐるみ mean something else entirely.
Your score: /3