予言|よげんyogen[0]heiban (flat)
This browser can't play pronunciations (needs Safari 18.4 or later, or Chrome / Edge / Firefox).
- noun, suru verb, transitive verbprediction; prophecy; prognostication; foretelling; forecast
- noun, suru verb, transitive verb(religious) prophecy
Conjugation
| Dictionary form | 予言する(よげんする) |
|---|---|
| Polite (masu) | 予言します(よげんします) |
| Negative (nai) | 予言しない(よげんしない) |
| polite (masen) | 予言しません(よげんしません) |
| classical zu / nu | 予言せず・予言せぬ(よげんせず・よげんせぬ) |
| Past (ta) | 予言した(よげんした) |
| polite (mashita) | 予言しました(よげんしました) |
| Past negative (nakatta) | 予言しなかった(よげんしなかった) |
| polite (masen deshita) | 予言しませんでした(よげんしませんでした) |
| Te form | 予言して(よげんして) |
| Potential | 予言できる(よげんできる) |
| Passive | 予言される(よげんされる) |
| Causative | 予言させる(よげんさせる) |
| Causative passive | 予言させられる(よげんさせられる) |
| Conditional (ba) | 予言すれば(よげんすれば) |
| tara | 予言したら(よげんしたら) |
| Volitional | 予言しよう(よげんしよう) |
| polite (mashou) | 予言しましょう(よげんしましょう) |
| Imperative | 予言しろ(よげんしろ) |
Common forms generated by rule; see the senses for honorific or irregular usage.
- Synonym預言よげんWrittenWritten religious term: a prophet relaying a divine oracle. 「予言」 is the general word for declaring what the future holds.
- Related予告よこくNeutralNeutral: telling people in advance what is to come — notices, warnings, film trailers. 「予言」 is a claim about an unknown future.
- Related予想よそうNeutralNeutral, common in daily life: an educated guess based on experience, not a firm declaration like 「予言」.
- Related予測よそくNeutralNeutral: inferring the future from present conditions or data, as in 「需要予測」. 「予言」 may rest on mystical insight or on reasoning.
- Related予期よきWrittenWritten/formal: expecting or anticipating something; mostly seen in 「予期せぬ」, meaning unexpected.
- Related先見せんけんWrittenWritten/formal: foresight — the ability to look ahead, as in 「先見の明」; it stresses the insight itself.
- Related見越すみこすNeutralNeutral verb: to foresee or anticipate, as in 「値上がりを見越して買う」; unlike 「予言」, the prediction need not be stated at all.
- Related見通すみとおすNeutralNeutral verb: to see through things or make out what lies ahead, as in 「先を見通す」.
- Related前触れまえぶれNeutralNeutral: a sign or advance notice that something is coming — an omen or herald, not a claim about the future.
- Related前知ぜんちWrittenWritten and rare: simply knowing something before it happens, without necessarily expressing it; 「予言」 puts the prediction into words.
Use 「予言」 for a firm declaration about the future, mystical or reasoned, as in 「ノストラダムスの予言」; 「預言」 is the religious term for prophets. For guesswork choose 「予想」 (everyday hunches) or 「予測」 (data-based), 「予期」 for expectations, 「予告」 for advance notice, 「前触れ」 for omens, and 「先見」 for foresight. The verbs 「見越す」 and 「見通す」 express anticipating or foreseeing without declaring.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only


