Skip to content
道Nihongo Path

練る

ねる

to knead; to work over; to polish up (a plan, a text)

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 小麦粉を水で練る。

    こむぎこをみずでねる。

    Knead the flour with water.

  2. タイムをとって作戦を練ろう。

    タイムをとってさくせんをねろう。

    Let's take a time-out and work out a strategy.

  3. 一晩かけて企画を練り直した。

    ひとばんかけてきかくをねりなおした。

    I spent the whole night reworking the proposal.

Common patterns

計画を練る
to work out a plan
作戦を練る
to devise a strategy
文章を練る
to polish one's writing

Memory tip

From kneading dough: you work the material over and over until it is smooth, hence 'refine a plan through repeated effort'. 計画を練る means the plan already exists and is being improved — 計画を立てる is making one from scratch.

Kanji in this word

Quick check

1 / 2Multiple choiceDifficulty 4 of 5

What does 練る mean?