How to use ぶり＆っぷり( = buri & ppuri)


= ii nomippuri dane.

= You drink a lot!


Hi, everyone! I’m Cookie. 

I looooove Milk! I could drink just milk all day long. 

Today we are going to study the suffix ぶり ( = buri) / っぷり ( = ppuri)

You may remember this sound from expressions like the one indicating “it has been”.

Ex. お久しぶり

= Ohisashiburi
= It has been a long time. 

But this time, we’re going to learn a version that does not deal with time or periods of time like the lesson below. 

 :rrrr: 久しぶり（hisashiburi) + 〜ぶり ( = buri) 

You may also remember this common use:

(For the first time in ~ ) 

Ex. 三年ぶりに日本に行った。

= Sannen buri ni nihon ni itta.

= I went to Japan for the first time in three years. 


 :w: How to form: 

This  suffix ぶり ( = buri) / っぷり ( = ppuri) * describes the appearance, state, action, condition, degree or the way one does something.

(The kanji for ぶり( = buri)  is 振り

You may notice that ぶり ( = buri) is part of several other words like: 

* 振り= ぶり=  ぶり= miburi = body gesture 

* 振り = ぶり=  ぶり= teburi = hand gesture 

You sometimes put them together:

振り振り = ぶりぶり= miburi teburi = (body and hand) gesture(s) 

Ex. ナオトはマギーにダンスを身振り振りで教えた。

= Naoto wa Maggie ni dansu wo miburi teburi de oshieta.

= Naoto taught Maggie how to dance with his body and hand gestures.

* 振り = ぶり= ぶり = soburi  = look, sign behavior 



= Anoko, B no koto zutto sukidatta mitai dayo.

= She has been into you for a long time.


= Sonna soburi zenzen misenai kara wakaranakatta.

= I had no idea. She didn’t show the slightest hint of that. 

* 振り= ぶり= くちぶり = kuchiburi = the way one talks (It is similar to 口調 = くちょう = kuchou)

Ex. 父は、息子に優しい口ぶりで「がんばれよ」と言った。

= Chichi wa, musuko ni yasashii kuchiburi de “Ganbareyo” to itta.

= The father told the son, “Hang in there!”  gently. (with a gentle tone

*振り= えだぶり= edaburi = the shape of the branch

Ex. この木は枝ぶりがいい。

= This tree has nice shaped branches.

= It’s a nice shaped tree. 

* 振り = ぶり= おおぶり = ooburi = largish, biggish,  somewhat large, on a large size 

* 振り = ぶり= ぶり = koburi = smallish,  somewhat small, on the small side

Ex. ぶりの財布が欲しい。

= Koburi no saifu ga hoshii.

= I want a smallish wallet. 

How to form:

1) verb masu-stem + ぶり ( = buri) っぷり ( = ppuri) 

2) noun + ぶり ( = buri) っぷり ( = ppuri) 

Note: The nouns and the verbs that you can use with ぶり ( = buri)  ／っぷり ( = ppuri) are limited. You can’t use it with just any noun and verb.  

I will show you the common usages in the below examples. 

How to use:  ぶり ( = buri) っぷり ( = ppuri) 

It describes the manner / state / action / way of doing something. / How well one does something, or if one does something a great deal. / The way / manner one does something vigorously. 

By attaching it, you can emphasize the degree of some state or action. 

1) verb + ぶり ( = buri) っぷり ( = ppuri) = It describes the action, the way one does something  

By using  + ぶり ( = buri) っぷり ( = ppuri), you can express the way one does something a lot / hard / intensely/ vigorously. 

Or the state how something is /someone is. 

Ex. 娘からの手紙で日本での暮らしぶりがよくわかった。

= Musume kara no tegami de nihon de no kurashiburi ga yoku wakatta.

= From a letter my daughter wrote me, I understand how she lives in Japan pretty well.

Note: Which one to use, ぶり ( = buri)  or っぷり ( = ppuri) 

Some verbs use both ぶり ( = buri ) and っぷり ( = ppuri) but some words sound more natural with one of them.

For example, to describe the way / manner someone drinks something, you say:

飲みっぷり( = nomippuri) and 飲みぶり( = nomiburi) is not common.

っぷり ( = ppuri) emphasizes the degree or strength, power, energy  or speed of action. 

It also sounds a little more casual than ぶり ( = buri). 

The way one talks

話しぶり = hanashiburi 


話しっぷり = hanashippuri

Ex. 彼女の話しぶりからお父さんの体調があまりよくないことが想像できた。

= Kanojo no hanashiburi kara otousan no taichou ga amari yokunai koto ga souzou dekita.

= I could from the way she talked that her father was not so good shape.

っぷり ( = ppuri) is more casual than ぶり ( = buri). 

Therefore the above sentence may not sound proper because it is a serious topic.

You tend to use っぷり ( = ppuri) to describe when one does something  energetically,  cheerfully, vigorously, manly, bravely or badly.

Ex. 彼女の話しっぷりからいかに彼女が彼のことを好きなのかわかる。

= Kanojo no hanashippuri kara ika ni kanojo ga kare noo koto wo sukinano ka wakaru.

= I can tell how much she likes him from the way she talks.

So by attaching っぷり ( = ppuri), we can imagine she can talk about him a lot or she talks about him passionately. 

Ex. 先生は、その生徒のがんばりぶりを見ていた。

= Sensei wa, sono seito no ganbari buri wo mite ita.

= The teacher has been observing how hard that student has been trying. 

Ex. そのおじいさんの初孫のかわいがりぶりは見ているだけで微笑ましい。

= Sono ojiisan no hatsumago no kawaigariburi wa miteiru dake de hohoemashii.

= Just looking at how much the old man dotes on his first grandchild makes me smile.

Ex. 妹が賢治に彼女がいると知った時のがっかりぶりといったらなかった。

= Imouto ga Kenji ni kanojo ga iru to shitta toki no gakkari buri to ittara nakatta.

= You have no idea how disappointed my little sister was when she found out Kenji had a girlfriend. 

Ex. 父は、英語で話しかけられただけですごい慌てぶりだった。

= Chichi wa, eigo de hanashikakerareta dake de sugoi awateburi datta.

= My father got all panicked when someone spoke to him in English.

Ex. 彼の部屋の散らかりぶりを見てあきれてしまった。

= Kare no heya no chirakariburi wo mite akirete shimatta.

= I rolled my eyes when I saw how clattered his room was. 


A: 「息子さんのサッカーの試合どうでしたか？」

= Musukosan no sakkaa no shiai dou deshita ka?

= How was your son’s soccer game?

B: 「ひどい負けっぷりでした。」

= Hidoi makeppuri deshita.

= They lost badly. 

Ex. お腹が空いたの？すごい食べっぷりだね。

= Onaka ga suita no? Sugoi tabeppuri dane.

= Are you hungry? You sure eat a lot.


= Ii nomippuri desune. Mou ippai douzo.

= You are a good drinker. Would you like another one?

Ex. 買いっぷりがいいね。ボーナス出たの？

= Kaippuri ga iine. Boonasu ga deta no?

= You are on a shopping spree. Did you get a bonus?

Ex. 最近、物の忘れっぷりがひどい。(casual)

= Saikin, mono no wasureppuri ga hidoi. 

= I’ve been becoming more and more forgetful recently.

2) noun + ぶり ( = buri) / *っぷり ( = ppuri)

Ex. 上司は、彼の仕事ぶりを見て感心している。

= Joushi wa, kare no shigotoburi wo mite kanshin shiteiru.

= The boss is impressed to see how hard (or efficiently ) he has been working.

Note: You can also use the verb 働く( = hataraku) 

働きぶり ( = hatarakiburi) the way one works. 

The translation to this would be “the way one works” but that has a different nuance. If you just want to say the way one works, you say 働き方( = hatarakikata)  Compare to 働き方( = hatarakikata),  you can visualize how hard one works or how efficiently one works with 仕事ぶり( = shigotoburi) /働きぶり ( = hatarakiburi) :

Ex. ウッチャンは安定した司会ぶりだった。

= Ucchan wa antei shita shikai buri datta.

= They way Ucchan hosted the Kohaku (Red and White Singing Contests) show was very stable. 

So the way he hosted throughout the show was very stable. 

Ex. マギー先生はみんなの日本語の上達ぶりに感心しています。

= Maggie sensei wa minna no nihongo no joutatsuburi ni kanshin shiteimasu.

= Maggie Sensei is impressed with how much all of you have improved at Japanese.

Ex. ラグビーチームは試合で見事な活躍ぶりを見せた。

= Ragubiichiimu wa shiai de migoto na katsuyaku buri wo miseta.

= The rugby team gave the great performance in the game.

 :w: You use っぷり ( = ppuri) when you emphasize the degree./ It sounds more casual than ぶり ( = buri)

Ex. っぷりを上げようと思ってこのドレスを買ったのに似合わない。

= Onnappuri wo ageyou to omotte kono doresu wo katta noni niawanai.

= I wanted to look really feminine so I bought this dress but It doesn’t look good me. 

If you say 女らしい ( = onna rashii), it means “feminine” but  っぷり ( = onnappuri) implies “full of feminine charm”. 

Ex. 今度のゴジラの街の破壊っぷりはすごかった。

= Kondo no gojira no machi no hakaippuri wa sugokatta.

= The way new Godzilla destroys towns was incredible. 

 !onpu! Colloquial usage:

You may see how people use ぷり( = puri) / っぷり ( = ppuri) by casually attaching it to a random verb or noun to add the meaning of  “really/ very” 

Note: Of course, you don’t want to use these in front of your real strict Japanese teachers! LOL! 

Ex. 彼のオタク(ヲタク）っぷりにもうついていけない。

= Kare no otakuppuri ni mou tsuite ikenai.

= I can’t keep up with his “geeikiness” anymore. 

Ex. 彼女のメンヘラっぷりがこわい。

= Kanojo no menhera ppuri ga kowai.

= The state of her mental health is so serious that it is scary.

Ex. みんなの前で自分のバカっぷりを見せてしまった。

= Minna no mae de jibun no bakappuri wo misete shimatta.

= I ended up showing everyone how stupid I was.

Ex. 俊のイケメンぶりすごくない？

= Shun no ikemen buri sugokunai?

= Isn’t Shun gorgeous?/ Look at him! He is SOOOO cute!

Ex. あいつ*のモテっぷりうらやましいよ(male speech)

= Aitsu no moteppuri urayamashii yo.

= I am envious of the way he attracts women. 

(* あいつ= aitsu= is a rough way to say “he/she”) 




= Cookie, Miruku suki nano wa wakaru kedo, hodohodo ni ne.

= Cookie, I know you like milk, but don’t drink too much, OK?


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Audio Files for this lesson

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:rrrr:   Part 2  Click here.


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  1. Wow, this is something probably even textbooks don’t teach. Thank you so much!

    On that note, I have a small question. A song I like has this line:
    Would I translate this as “Even though I know, I’m acting like I don’t”? Also, why is it 知らんinstead of しらない?

    Thank you!!

    P.S. Can you make a lesson about alternative negative forms like ぬ and ず, and what makes them different from ない？Thank you again! Love your work, been following you for years.

      1. Hi Sora,
        I just read your first message. Sorry!! ごめんなさい　🙇‍♀️
        I think there was a typo
        →知ってるくせに 知らんぷりをして

        Your translation is right. 知らんぷり is a kind of cute way to say 知らないふりをする(more literal 知らぬふりをする）
        I have a lesson on ず. Please check. (Click here.)

        ぬ is an old style Japanese and it means ない, you see it in old sayings.

    1. Can confirm that they don’t teach this at school or in textbooks. JLPT N2 passer here, and made it all the way to some N1 classes, and I’ve never heard of this grammar tidbit until I came across it on a Youtube comment saying something about 飲みっぷり. Thanks for your blog Maggie-sensei, they’re better than all the textbooks and classes I’ve attended. Very detailed yet easy to understand. Keep up the good work! :)

      To Sora’s question, colloquial Nihongo has a lot of shortened words like 知らん, I guess because they’re easier to say. Like saying “何やってんの?” instead of saying the entire “何やっているの?” because it’s two syllables less. Same with 分からん or 分かんね. And those are just the easy ones! Don’t worry, as you get exposed to more native speaker dialogues, you’ll get the hang of it. ;)

      1. Hi mikachan,

        Thank you for your comment.
        I am very happy to hear you can still learn something from this lesson.
        Yes, there are lots of shortened forms in Japanese.
        I think I have a couple of lessons but here is one of them. てる→てん

  2. マーギ 先生の教えっぷりはすごいですね。


  3. Thank you so much for the lesson senseii…. I prefer your grammar lessons than other text book hehe. But sensei can you please give the lesson about writing letters and postcard in Japanese? Both in formal and informal way,because it’s really confusing. Thank you so much for your hard work senseii.. Sending you so much love.

    1. Hi Reana,

      Thank YOU for visiting this site!
      Actually some other people asked me to make a lesson about writing letters in past.
      I guess I can introduce a simple way to write a letter/postcard in future. :)

  4. Missa sensei do you have online group chat such as Telegram group or Line Group for japanese lesson? if you have one of them, i would like to join the group. :)

  5. こんにちはマギー先生！

    Just curious, is「たっぷり」derived from 多 and 振り? Even though it’s not using a noun or verb…

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