とめる vs やめる – How do you Say Stop in Japanese?

In English, the word stop can have a few meanings. It can mean to cause something to come to an end, or to quit doing something for example. So, how do you say stop in Japanese?

How do you Say Stop in Japanese?

There are two main ways to say stop in Japanese. One is for actually stopping an activity while the other word is closer to quitting and activity.

https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/

止める・止まる

止とめる means to physically stop or intervene in some activity. You would say it for example to stop a conversation or stop water from running. 止める also can mean holding something in a certain state like holding one’s breath. You can also use this word to mean stopping something like your gaze on an object

◆話を止める – Stop talking
◆水を止める – Stop the water (turn off the water)
◆息を止める – Hold one’s breath
◆鳥に目を止める – fix one’s eyes on the bird

Next, the word 止とまる is related to 止める. 止まる is the intransitive version of 止める.

動詞 – The Basics of Japanese verbs

It means to stop, be still, or halt. In Japan, the stop signs say 止まれ!  The command form of 止まる to mean STOP! 

やめる

Finally, the word やめる means to stop doing something or to quit. So, you could say やめる just for some activity or quitting something for good.

◆テレビを見るのをやめる – Stop watching TV
◆タバコをやめる – Quit smoking

Resources

• 止める – Weblio
• やめる – Weblio