呼ぶ
よぶ
yobu
= to call (someone); to call out to; to invite; to summon; to name
呼ぶ (yobu) is a versatile verb meaning to call — but what kind of calling depends on context. You can call out to someone (「おい！」と呼ぶ), call them by a name (〜と呼ぶ), invite someone (呼んでおく — call someone over), or summon help (救急車を呼ぶ). It’s one of the high-frequency verbs that Japanese learners need to use naturally across many everyday situations.
Yobu (呼ぶ) means to call, with several specific uses: 1) Call out to / address: 名前で呼ぶ (namae de yobu — to call by name), ちゃんと呼んで (chanto yonde — call me properly), 「先生！」と呼ぶ (‘Sensei!’ to yobu — to call out ‘Teacher!’). 2) Invite/summon: 友達を呼ぶ (tomodachi wo yobu — to invite a friend over), 救急車を呼ぶ (kyuukyuusha wo yobu — to call an ambulance), 医者を呼ぶ (isha wo yobu — to call a doctor). 3) Refer to as / name: 〜と呼ばれる (to yobareru — to be called/known as), 「先生」と呼ばれている (sensei to yobareru — to be called ‘teacher’).
The passive form 呼ばれる (yobareru — to be called) is extremely common: 「田中と呼ばれています」(Tanaka to yobarete imasu — I go by Tanaka / I’m called Tanaka). The te-form 呼んで (yonde) can mean ‘having called’ or in the command form 呼んでください (yonde kudasai — please call). Don’t confuse 呼ぶ (yobu — to call) with 読む (yomu — to read) — they’re different verbs with almost identical romanization. The kanji distinguish them clearly: 呼 (call) vs. 読 (read).
呼ぶ uses the kanji 呼 (yo/ko — to call, to breathe out). 呼 combines the mouth radical (口) with a phonetic component (乎). The mouth element emphasizes the vocal/physical act of calling out. Related: 呼吸 (kokyuu — breathing, respiration; literally ‘calling and absorbing’ = exhaling and inhaling), 呼び出す (yobidasu — to call out, to summon).
Everyday use
子どもが急に熱を出したので、急いで医者を呼んだ。
Kodomo ga kyuu ni netsu wo dashita node, isoide isha wo yonda.
The child suddenly developed a fever, so I hurriedly called a doctor.
Casual / Social Media
先生に下の名前で呼ばれてびっくりした 珍しいな
Sensei ni shita no namae de yobarete bikkuri shita Mezurashii na
I was surprised when the teacher called me by my first name. That’s unusual
Formal / Cultural context
「呼ぶ」の語用論的機能は単純な発話行為（声で呼びかける）に留まらず、社会的関係の確認・指定・再定義という象徴的機能をも包含する。特に「〜と呼ばれる」構文は話者が対象に名称・カテゴリー・社会的役割を付与する行為（命名・分類・役割付与）を言語化するものであり、言語学的には命名行為（act of naming）と分類行為（act of categorizing）の複合として記述される。
‘Yobu’ no goyouronteki kinou wa tanjun na hatsuwa koui (koe de yobikakeru) ni todomarazu, shakai-teki kankei no kakunin shitei saiteigi to iu shouchouteki kinou wo mo hougan suru. Toku ni ‘~to yobareru’ kouchiku wa hanashite ga taishou ni meishou kategoori shakai-teki yakuwari wo fuyo suru koui (meimei bunrui yakuwari fuyo) wo gengoka suru mono de ari, gengogaku-teki ni wa meimei koui (act of naming) to bunrui koui (act of categorizing) no fukugou toshite kijutsu sareru.
‘Yobu’ encompasses not only a simple speech act (calling out vocally) but also the symbolic function of confirming, designating, and redefining social relationships. In particular, the ‘~to yobareru’ construction verbalizes an act of assigning a name, category, or social role to a target (naming, classification, role assignment), and is linguistically described as a compound of naming acts and categorizing acts.
How you 呼ぶ (call/address) someone in Japan reflects the entire social relationship. Japanese has an elaborate system of address terms: さん (san — neutral polite), くん (kun — for boys/young men), ちゃん (chan — familiar, for children or close female friends), 先生 (sensei — teacher/doctor/master), 様 (sama — very respectful). Choosing the wrong address suffix is a social error — calling a superior by their first name without permission, or using ちゃん for someone who expects さん, communicates either disrespect or unwanted intimacy.
The act of 救急車を呼ぶ (kyuukyuusha wo yobu — calling an ambulance) connects to a distinctive feature of Japanese emergency culture. Japan’s emergency number is 119 (for ambulance and fire; police is 110). Ambulance use rates in Japan are high compared to other countries, partly because many people call for conditions that in other countries would be handled by personal transport to a clinic. There are ongoing public health discussions about appropriate ambulance use (救急車の適正利用, kyuukyuusha no tekisei riyou), highlighting how yobu carries real social consequences in emergency contexts.
Disclosure: This site may contain affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.