飛び出す・申し込む・横切る: three compound verbs

A cat described as 庭を横切った crossed the garden; 部屋から飛び出した says it rushed out of a room. These Japanese compound verbs, together with 申し込む, show how familiar parts can help you recognise a word while its complete form determines the reading, meaning and conjugation.

This N3 vocabulary set contains three verbs: 飛び出す・申し込む・横切る. It builds on how compound verbs conjugate, rather than repeating that earlier set. Here the work is to distinguish outward movement, making an application, and crossing a space.

Three compounds, three situations

Headword	Reading	Part of speech	Sense practised here	Useful phrase
飛び出す	とびだす	Godan verb, ending in す	Rush or jump out	部屋から飛び出す: rush out of a room
申し込む	もうしこむ	Godan verb, ending in む	Apply or sign up	講座に申し込む: sign up for a course
横切る	よこぎる	Godan verb, ending in る	Cross or traverse	道を横切る: cross a road

These are selected everyday senses, not exhaustive dictionary entries. Shogakukan's entries verify the readings and the outward-motion sense of 飛び出す, the application sense of 申し込む, and the crossing sense of 横切る.

The level boundary needs a qualification. Meshclass labels 飛び出す N3, and JapaneseTest4You labels 横切る N3. For 申し込む, the JapaneseTest4You N3 list agrees with this curriculum's reference inventory, but Meshclass places it at N4. Treat it as useful earlier vocabulary being consolidated here. Study lists are estimates, not an official exhaustive JLPT syllabus.

The last verb carries the changing ending

In 飛び出す, 飛ぶ supplies 飛び, the stem used before ます. 出す supplies the final ending. In 申し込む, the first element is 申し, from 申す, and the ending belongs to 込む. You do not attach ます to both parts.

横切る has a different first element: 横, a noun referring to the side or horizontal direction. Its second element is pronounced ぎる in this word. It is a compound, but it is not an example of two verb stems joined together.

All three are godan verbs. 横切る remains godan despite its る ending. If the basic changes are unfamiliar, start with verb groups and the ます form.

Dictionary form	Polite form	Plain negative	Plain past	て form
飛び出す	飛び出します	飛び出さない	飛び出した	飛び出して
申し込む	申し込みます	申し込まない	申し込んだ	申し込んで
横切る	横切ります	横切らない	横切った	横切って

Watch the whole ending: す → した, む → んだ, る → った. Keeping the first element fixed gives you these forms without inventing a separate conjugation for compounds.

出す, 込む and 切る cannot each give you one meaning

The elements are clues, but these three words resist a mechanical translation.

飛び出す often describes movement out of somewhere, sometimes abrupt enough to be dangerous:

猫が部屋から飛び出した。
The cat rushed out of the room.

The phrase 部屋から names the source. 出す also occurs in compounds describing a sudden beginning, such as 泣き出す, but that does not make “start flying” the default translation of this sentence.

申し込む means applying or signing up through an appropriate request or procedure:

昨日、日本語の講座に申し込んだ。
Yesterday I signed up for a Japanese course.

Do not translate it as “speak into”. Nor does the presence of 申す mean every ordinary use of 申し込む needs a special humble translation. Tofugu's guide to 込む compounds includes 申し込む among meanings you need to learn as complete words. Applying also does not by itself establish that your application was approved; that distinction connects to 許可 and 承認.

横切る describes crossing from one side to another:

子どもが道を横切った。
A child crossed the road.

The を marks the path traversed. The child is not cutting the road, and 切る does not mean “finish completely” in this word. Learn よこぎる, including the voiced ぎ, alongside that movement.

Keep the phrase that tells you where the action goes

Phrase	What the particle identifies	What happens
部屋から飛び出す	から: source	Someone or something rushes out
講座に申し込む	に: course applied for	Someone signs up
道を横切る	を: traversed path	Someone crosses the road

These are useful constructions, not exclusive particle rules for every sense. You can also encounter 家を飛び出す, where を marks the place left, and 予約を申し込む, where を marks the reservation requested. The course sentence above uses に because 講座 is what you are applying to join.

Look for 飛び出す in movement descriptions and warnings, 横切る in descriptions of a route across a space, and 申し込む on course or event registration pages. A registration notice gives you more than an isolated 込む: the surrounding course name tells you what the application is for. In Kikusho, photograph that notice and select 申し込む as a complete word. Check the draft card's reading and meaning against the notice before saving it, so you keep the application sense you encountered instead of a guess assembled from the two elements.

Practice

Choose one option for each item. The solution block follows the entire exercise.

Question 1

A movement caption contains 横切る. Select its reading.

A. よこきる
B. よこぎる
C. おうぎる
D. よぎこる

Question 2

Which spelling gives the verb もうしこむ, “apply or sign up”?

A. 申す込む
B. 申し混む
C. 申込みる
D. 申し込む

Question 3

A dog suddenly rushed out of the room. Complete the description.

犬が部屋から（　）。

A. 飛び出した
B. 申し込んだ
C. 横切った
D. 申し込まない

Question 4

You submitted your registration for a Japanese course yesterday. Pick the verb that describes that action.

昨日、日本語の講座に（　）。

A. 横切った
B. 飛び出した
C. 申し込んだ
D. 切った

Question 5

What does 猫が庭を横切った tell you?

A. The cat signed up for the garden.
B. The cat cut everything in the garden.
C. The cat began flying.
D. The cat crossed the garden.

Question 6

Fill the particle slot in a sentence about signing up for a course.

来月の講座（　）申し込みます。

A. に
B. から
C. まで
D. より

Question 7

Turn 飛び出す into its plain past form.

A. 飛んで出す
B. 飛び出った
C. 飛び出した
D. 飛び出んだ

Question 8

You decided not to apply today. Choose the plain negative form for this sentence.

今日は講座に（　）。

A. 申し込むない
B. 申し込まない
C. 申し込みない
D. 申し込めない

Record your eight choices before checking the explanations below.

Answers and explanations

Answer 1. B. 横切る is よこぎる. The second element has ぎ in this complete word; よこきる misses that voiced sound.

Answer 2. D. 申し込む spells もうしこむ. Keep 申し, then 込む. 混む is a different verb meaning to be crowded, and neither 申す込む nor 申込みる is the target word's standard spelling.

Answer 3. A. 飛び出した supplies the outward rush described in the prompt. 部屋から identifies where the dog came out of. 横切った would describe crossing a space, not rushing out of it.

Answer 4. C. 申し込んだ describes the application made yesterday. The む ending gives んだ in the past. The sentence reports registration, without asserting that the course accepted the applicant.

Answer 5. D. 庭を横切った means crossed the garden. The を phrase identifies the traversed area. Reading 切る as physical cutting or as completion loses this word's established sense.

Answer 6. A. 講座に申し込みます uses に for the course you are signing up for. The other choices introduce a source, endpoint or comparison that does not fit the stated application construction.

Answer 7. C. 飛び出した is the past form. The final す conjugates to した while 飛び stays in place. 飛んで出す is a separate sequence, not this compound's past form.

Answer 8. B. 申し込まない is the plain negative of 申し込む: む changes to ま before ない. 申し込めない is a negative potential form, “cannot apply”, which would change the intended decision into inability.