# 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”). 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.

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) もてる [mòtéꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [2])
* IPA: [mo̞te̞ɾɯ̟]
* Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「もてる」
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary :
| Stem forms ||||
| 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. 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] to be able to have or hold: potential form of 持(も)つ (motsu)
* [from 1600s] to withstand, to endure

#### Usage notes

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

#### Conjugation

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 2 “持”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
* ↑ “持てる”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
* 1 2 3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* 1 2 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN