走る vs 駆ける
JLPT N5 vocabulary · what is the difference?
走る is the everyday word for running and covers essentially every situation a learner needs. 駆ける is literary — it suggests dashing or galloping, and in speech it appears mainly inside compounds like 駆け出す or 駆け寄る. If you are unsure, use 走る.
When to use each
走る
はしる
Use 走る for running in any ordinary sense: exercise, hurrying, and also vehicles moving along a road or a road running somewhere.
毎朝、公園を走っています。
まいあさ、こうえんをはしっています。
I run in the park every morning.
遅れそうだったので、駅まで走りました。
おくれそうだったので、えきまではしりました。
I was about to be late, so I ran to the station.
駆ける
かける
駆ける belongs to written and literary Japanese — a horse galloping, a character dashing across a field. In speech you will almost only meet it inside compounds: 駆け出す for breaking into a run, 駆け寄る for rushing up to someone, 駆けつける for rushing to the scene.
馬が野原を駆けていた。
うまがのはらをかけていた。
A horse was galloping across the field.
子どもが母親のもとへ駆け寄った。
こどもがははおやのもとへかけよった。
The child rushed over to his mother.
Sentences where only one works
健康のために毎日走ります。
けんこうのためにまいにちはしります。
I run every day for my health.
Ordinary exercise. 駆ける here would sound like a line out of a novel.
知らせを聞いて病院に駆けつけた。
しらせをきいてびょういんにかけつけた。
Hearing the news, he rushed to the hospital.
駆けつける is the fixed word for rushing to where something has happened; there is no 走りつける.
電車が線路を走っています。
でんしゃがせんろをはしっています。
A train is running along the track.
Vehicles only take 走る.
Common mistakes
毎朝、駆けています。
毎朝、走っています。
駆ける is too literary for describing your daily jog; it sounds like narration rather than conversation.
車が道を駆けています。
車が道を走っています。
駆ける is for living things moving on their own legs. Vehicles take 走る.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to learn 駆ける at all?
Not for speaking — a learner rarely needs it. It is worth knowing passively for reading, and for the compounds 駆け出す, 駆け寄る and 駆けつける, which do turn up in ordinary conversation.
Aren't there other words read かける?
Yes — 掛ける, 賭ける, 欠ける and others share the reading. The kanji and the context tell them apart, and 駆ける is the rarest of them in speech.
Is 駆ける faster than 走る?
It carries a sense of dashing, but the difference is mostly register rather than measured speed. 速く走る is the normal way to say that someone runs fast.