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N5Lesson notes · Oct 9, 2026

Push and pull in Japanese: 押おす (osu) and 引ひく (hiku)

Push in Japanese is 押おす (osu, おす) and pull is 引ひく (hiku, ひく) — and while 押おす stays close to "push," 引ひく stretches to cover drawing a line, drawing a lottery card, looking up a word, and catching a cold.

If you searched "push in Japanese" or "pull in Japanese," you probably want two things: the word, and a way to read the sign on the door in front of you. You get both in the first section. The rest of this article is for the moment after that, when you meet 風邪かぜを引ひく in a textbook and wonder why a "pull" verb is making you sick.

The basics

How do you say "push" in Japanese?

Push is 押おす (osu). The kanji 押おす is written おす in hiragana, and it is a regular godan verb, so the polite form is 押おします and the te-form is 押おして.

ボタンを押おしてください。 — Please press the button. (polite request, everyday) エレベーターのボタンを押おしました。 — I pressed the elevator button. (polite, past)

Notice the translation. English splits this idea into "push" (a door), "press" (a button) and "ring" (a doorbell). Japanese uses one verb for all of them. The doorbell is a good example: ベルを押おす, literally "push the bell."

How do you say "pull" in Japanese?

Pull is 引ひく (hiku). The hiragana is ひく, the polite form is 引ひきます, and the te-form is 引ひいて. Like 押おす, it is a regular godan verb.

ドアを引ひいてください。 — Please pull the door. (polite request, shop or office) ひもを引ひくと、電気でんきがつきます。 — When you pull the string, the light comes on. (polite, plain explanation)

If you only need a word for yanking something hard toward you, there is also 引っ張ひっぱる (hipparu), which is rawer and more physical. 引ひく is the neutral default.

What do the signs 押おす and 引ひく on a door mean?

押おす means push and 引ひく means pull. These are the two kanji you will see stuck to glass doors in shops, cafés and stations. 押おす is read おす and 引ひく is read ひく, and the sign is simply the verb written in its dictionary form.

A sign reading 押おす means you push. A sign reading 引ひく means you pull. That is the whole system, and it is more useful than most "survival Japanese" phrases. Some doors also say 押おす or 引ひく in full, or use the English words "PUSH" and "PULL" underneath.

A quick way to remember them: 押おす has the hand radical (the left part, 扌 because your hand is doing the pushing. 引ひく has a bow (弓ゆみ) with a stroke pulling back, which is exactly what you do to a bow string.

Which particle goes with 押おす and 引ひく?

The thing you push or pull takes を. 押おす and 引ひく are transitive verbs, so the object is marked with を, not に.

ドアを押おす。 — Push the door. (plain form, as on a sign) スイッチを押おす。 — Press the switch. (plain form, instructions)

If you want to say where the button is, that is a separate phrase using の or に: 壁かべのボタン (the button on the wall). We will come back to this, because the に-versus-を mistake is the most common one with these verbs.

Beyond the basics

Why does 引ひく mean so many different things?

Because the core idea of 引ひく is "to draw something toward you or along a path," and that image fits a lot of everyday actions. Once you see that, the list stops feeling random.

ノートに線せんを引ひいた。 — I drew a line in my notebook. (casual-neutral, a line is "pulled" across the page) 辞書じしょで言葉ことばを引ひく。 — Look a word up in the dictionary. (neutral, "pull" a word out of the book) 風邪かぜを引ひいてしまった。 — I caught a cold. (neutral, with regret from てしまった) おみくじを引ひいた。 — I drew a fortune slip. (neutral, at a shrine)

The cold one surprises people. You can picture it as "drawing" a cold toward yourself, but do not lean on the logic. The verb is 引ひく, never 取とる or する. Do not try to translate it word for word. Just learn 風邪かぜを引ひく as a single unit.

Here is the full spread in one place:

Meaning Pattern Example
To pull (a door, a string) ものを引ひく ドアを引ひく
To draw (a line) 線せんを引ひく 定規じょうぎで線せんを引ひく
To draw (a lottery, a card, a gacha) くじ / ガチャを引ひく ガチャを引ひく
To look up (a dictionary) 辞書じしょを引ひく 辞書じしょで調しらべる、辞書じしょを引ひく
To catch (a cold) 風邪かぜを引ひく 風邪かぜを引ひいた
To subtract 数かずを引ひく 五ご引ひく三さんは二に
To play (a stringed instrument) 楽器がっきを弾ひく (see note) ピアノを弾ひく

A note on that last row. Playing a piano or guitar is 弾ひく, which is also read ひく but written with a different kanji. It is its own verb, and we cover the whole family of "play" verbs in the guide to hiku, fuku and tataku. If you see ひく in hiragana and the context is music, think 弾ひく, not 引ひく.

What does 引ひく mean in anime and gacha games?

In game and anime talk, 引ひく is "to pull a draw" — ガチャを引ひく means to do a gacha pull. You will hear it constantly in Akihabara and in any streamer's chat.

ガチャを引ひいたら、星ほし5が出でた! — I pulled the gacha and got a five-star! (casual, excited) 十じゅう連れん、引ひいてくる。 — I'm going to go pull ten. (casual, game talk)

Game fans will also say 引ひきが強つよい (my draws are lucky) and 引ひきが悪わるい (my luck is bad). 引ひき here means the pull itself, as in "the luck of the draw."

And then there is a very different slang use. ドン引ひき (donbiki) describes the feeling of being so shocked or put off that you mentally step back from someone.

あの発言はつげんには、みんなドン引ひきした。 — Everyone was put off by that remark. (casual, slightly negative, very common online)

The idea is the same, because you "pull away." If you like fandom vocabulary, our otaku slang guide covers the words that sit next to this one.

Does 押おす have extra meanings too?

Yes, but they are fewer. 押おす also means to stamp (ハンコを押おす, to press a seal onto paper) and to press on with confidence.

書類しょるいにハンコを押おしてください。 — Please stamp the document with your seal. (polite, office) あの人ひとは押おしが強つよい。 — That person is pushy. (neutral to slightly negative)

押おしが強つよい means someone presses ahead and does not take no easily. In sales or dating, it can be either a compliment or a warning.

Is 押おし (oshi) the same word as 推おし (oshi)?

They sound identical, but they are different words with different kanji. 押おす (to push) becomes the noun 押おし. 推おす (to recommend, to support) becomes the noun 推おし, which is the fan word for "my favorite, the one I back."

Fans often joke about this. 推おしを推おす is "I push my oshi forward," and in speech it sounds like a pun on pushing someone. In writing, though, keep them apart: ボタンを押おす (push), but アイドルを推おす (support). The kanji look close and are an easy mix-up. The full story of 推おし is in the otaku slang article.

What about プッシュ and the katakana versions?

プッシュ (pusshu) is the loanword "push," and it is used for push notifications and pushing a product. プッシュ通知つうち is a push notification, and プッシュアップ is a push-up.

アプリのプッシュ通知つうちをオフにした。 — I turned off the app's push notifications. (neutral, tech)

For physically pushing a door, you would never say プッシュする. You use 押おす. And for pull, there is the less common プル, seen in "pull request," but ordinary speech uses 引ひく.

What do you hear on trains?

You will hear 押おさないでください on crowded platforms and trains, meaning "please do not push." The negative request is 押おさないでください, and the shorter 押おさないで is what you hear shouted.

押おさないでください。 — Please do not push. (polite, announcements and signs) 押おすな! — Don't push! (blunt, rude, commands)

Station staff are officially polite. If someone shouts 押おすな, that is not an announcement, that is a person who is annoyed.

How do 押おせ and 引ひけ sound in anime?

They are the plain command forms: 押おせ (ose) is "push!" and 引ひけ (hike) is "pull!" You hear them in action scenes, in a hurry, from a character giving an order.

押おせ!今いますぐ押おせ! — Push it! Push it right now! (command, urgent) 引ひけ!引ひくんだ! — Pull! Pull it! (command, urgent)

Do not use these commands with a stranger or a teacher. In normal life, stay with 押おしてください and 引ひいてください.

Common mistakes

  • Reading the door sign backwards. 押おす is push and 引ひく is pull. If you push a 引ひく door, you will meet the glass. Test yourself in a real shop before it matters.
  • Using に instead of を. ボタンに押おす is not natural. The button is the thing being pressed, so it takes を: ボタンを押おす.
  • Mixing up 押おす and 推おす. The sound is the same, but the kanji differ. ボタンを押おす means to press a button. アイドルを推おす means to back an idol. Writing one for the other changes the meaning completely.
  • Thinking 引ひく only means "pull." It also means to draw (a line, a card), to look up (a dictionary), and to catch (a cold). If you translate it as "pull" every time, 風邪かぜを引ひく will look like nonsense.
  • Using 引ひく for musical instruments. ピアノを引ひく is wrong. Use 弾ひく, as in ピアノを弾ひく. The two verbs sound the same but are written differently.
  • Confusing push and open. 押おす is a motion. 開あける, 開ひらく and 閉しめる describe the result. If you want the opening and closing verbs, read open in Japanese and close in Japanese.

For the door itself (ドア versus 扉とびら), see door in Japanese.

Practice

Try each one before you open the answer. Questions 3 and 4 are a pair, and so are 7 and 8.

1. What does the sign 押おす on a door mean?

Show answer

Push — 押おす is the kanji of 押おす (osu). If the sign says 引ひく, you pull.

2. Say "Please press the button."

Show answer

ボタンを押おしてください — the object takes を, and 押おして is the te-form of 押おす.

3. Which is correct for "I caught a cold": 風邪かぜを押おした or 風邪かぜを引ひいた?

Show answer

風邪かぜを引ひいた — a cold is "drawn," so the verb is 引ひく. 押おす would mean you pushed it.

4. Which is correct for "I stamped the document with my seal": ハンコを押おした or ハンコを引ひいた?

Show answer

ハンコを押おした — a seal is pressed down onto paper, so the verb is 押おす. This is the pair to question 3.

5. What is wrong with ボタンに押おしてください?

Show answer

The particle. 押おす is transitive, so the button takes を: ボタンを押おしてください.

6. How do you say "I drew a line" in Japanese?

Show answer

線せんを引ひいた — drawing a line is 引ひく, the same verb as pulling, because you draw the pen along a path.

7. You want to say "I play the piano." Is it ピアノを引ひく or ピアノを弾ひく?

Show answer

ピアノを弾ひく — instruments use 弾ひく, which sounds like 引ひく but has a different kanji.

8. You want to say "I looked up the word in a dictionary." Which verb?

Show answer

辞書じしょで言葉ことばを引ひいた — looking something up is 引ひく. This is the pair to question 7, because both verbs are read ひく.

9. A friend says ガチャを引ひいた. What did they do?

Show answer

They pulled a gacha draw — 引ひく is the standard verb for drawing a lottery or gacha pull.

10. A train announcer wants to say "Please do not push." What is the polite form?

Show answer

押おさないでください — the negative form 押おさない plus でください. The blunt 押おすな is a rude command.

FAQ

Is "push" in Japanese 押おす or プッシュ? For physical pushing, always 押おす. プッシュ is used for push notifications and for pushing a product, and it sounds odd for a door.

How do you write push in hiragana and kanji? In kanji it is 押おす, in hiragana おす. For pull, the kanji is 引ひく and the hiragana is ひく.

What is the difference between 押おす and 引ひく in a sentence? 押おす moves something away from you and 引ひく moves something toward you. The same split lives in the verbs: 押おす is "away," 引ひく is "toward."

Is 引ひく the same as 弾ひく for playing an instrument? No. They are pronounced the same but written with different kanji. 引ひく is for pulling, drawing, looking up and catching a cold. 弾ひく is for playing a stringed or keyboard instrument.

What does ドン引ひき mean? It means being so shocked or put off that you mentally pull back. It is casual slang, very common online and among friends.

Is it rude to say 押おすな? Yes. 押おすな is a blunt command. Use 押おさないでください if you need to ask politely.

Vocabulary from this article

Tap the block to select all of it, then copy. In Anki: File → Import, note type Basic, separator Tab, and each line becomes one card.

押す	おす — to push, to press
引く	ひく — to pull, to draw, to look up, to catch (a cold)
弾く	ひく — to play (a stringed or keyboard instrument)
引っ張る	ひっぱる — to yank, to pull hard
ボタン	ぼたん — button
風邪	かぜ — a cold
線	せん — line
辞書	じしょ — dictionary
ガチャ	がちゃ — gacha (game draw)
ドン引き	どんびき — to be put off, to recoil
推し	おし — one's favorite, the one you back
押しが強い	おしがつよい — pushy
プッシュ	ぷっしゅ — push (loanword)
ハンコ	はんこ — seal, stamp
押さないでください	おさないでください — please do not push

I'm Yuuki, a Japanese teacher based in Tokyo. I've taught on italki as a Top 1% teacher and watched over 1,500 anime, so the sentences in this blog are the ones I reach for when I teach. The 押おす and 引ひく door signs are one of the first things I show a new learner in Tokyo. For practice with feedback, Book a trial lesson · $13, or work through Japanese practice exercises first.

Sources: the author's own lessons and standard reference grammars.

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