Four ways a kanji is built
Japanese dictionaries sort kanji by how they were formed. You do not need the technical names, but knowing the four types helps you see why a character looks the way it does.
The fourth type is by far the largest. In 晴 (clear weather) and 清 (pure), the right-hand part 青 gives the sound sei, while 日 (sun) and 氵 (water) give the meaning. Spotting the sound part often lets you guess the on reading of a kanji you have never seen.
Radicals: the parts that hint at meaning
A radical is a component that appears in many kanji, usually on the left or top. Dictionaries list around 214 traditional radicals, but a few dozen cover most everyday characters. Several change shape when squeezed to one side: 人 becomes 亻, 水 becomes 氵, 手 becomes 扌.
| Radical | Meaning it hints at | Kanji that contain it |
|---|---|---|
| 亻 | person (a squeezed form of 人) | 休 yasumu rest体 karada body住 sumu live |
| 氵 | water (three drops) | 海 umi sea池 ike pond泳 oyogu swim |
| 木 | tree, wood | 林 hayashi woods森 mori forest校 kō school |
| 口 | mouth | 味 aji taste呼 yobu call吸 suu breathe in |
| 訁 | words, speech (from 言) | 話 hanasu speak語 go language読 yomu read |
| 扌 | hand (from 手) | 持 motsu hold打 utsu hit投 nageru throw |
| 艹 | grass, plants | 花 hana flower茶 cha tea草 kusa grass |
| 日 | sun, day | 明 akarui bright時 toki time晴 hare clear sky |
On and kun: two kinds of reading
When Japan borrowed Chinese characters, it kept a version of the Chinese pronunciation (the on’yomi, “sound reading”) and also used the characters to write native Japanese words (the kun’yomi, “meaning reading”). Dictionaries write kun readings in hiragana and on readings in katakana.
| Kanji | Kun (native) | On (from Chinese) | On reading in a compound |
|---|---|---|---|
| 山 | やま yama · mountain | サン san | 富士山 ふじさん Fujisan, Mount Fuji |
| 日 | ひ hi · sun, day | ニチ nichi | 毎日 まいにち mainichi, every day |
| 人 | ひと hito · person | ジン, ニン jin, nin | 日本人 にほんじん nihonjin, a Japanese person |
| 水 | みず mizu · water | スイ sui | 水曜日 すいようび suiyōbi, Wednesday |
| 食 | た(べる) ta(beru) · eat | ショク shoku | 食事 しょくじ shokuji, a meal |
| 生 | い(きる) i(kiru) · live | セイ sei | 学生 がくせい gakusei, student |
A kanji on its own, or followed by hiragana, usually takes its kun reading: 山 yama, 食べる taberu.
Two or more kanji together usually take on readings: 火山 kazan (volcano), 食事 shokuji (meal). There are exceptions, which is why every example in this course shows the reading.
Okurigana: the hiragana tail
Verbs and adjectives change their endings, but a kanji cannot change shape. So Japanese writes the fixed root in kanji and the changing part in hiragana after it. These trailing kana are called okurigana (“sent-along kana”).
Compound words: kanji that work together
Most Japanese nouns are written with two kanji. Reading the parts often tells you what the word means, which is how Japanese readers understand new words in the news.
The order to learn them in
Japanese children learn 1,026 kyōiku kanji (education kanji) over six years of primary school, then the rest of the 2,136 jōyō kanji (everyday-use list) in secondary school. This course follows the same order, starting with the simple, frequent characters of first grade.
Sound components: guessing a reading
Many kanji have a component that hints at the on reading. Kanji sharing that part often share a sound.
| Kanji | Meaning | Shared part, sound |
|---|---|---|
| sei | clear weather | 青 sei |
| sei | pure | 青 sei |
| sei | spirit | 青 sei |
| ji | hold | 寺 ji |
| ji | time | 寺 ji |
| shi | poem | 寺 ji/shi |
Special readings
Some words are read as a whole, not character by character (熟字訓 jukujikun). They must be learned as words.
A routine for new kanji
Learn kanji inside words, not alone.
Check yourself
Read each word, then open the answer.
- Read: 山
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yamamountain (kun reading) - Read: 富士山
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FujisanOn reading さん inside a compound. - Read: 今日
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kyōtoday: a whole-word reading. - Read: 大人
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otonaadult: a whole-word reading. - Read: 休む
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yasumurest: person 亻 + tree 木.
Reading kanji in sentences
Watch which kanji take a kun reading and which take an on reading.