| The Kanji |
Readings, Meanings & Examples |
| 一 |
1) ichi, 2) hito(tsu) -
one, the first
And so begins your
kanji journey and it couldn't be any easier! (and
believe me it won't!)
|
一 ichi - one, the number one
一番 ichi ban - #1, the best
世界一 sei kai ichi - the best in the world
一人 hitori - one person, alone |
|
| 二 |
1) ni, 2) futa(tsu) -
two, second
Two lines = 2,
logical!; A little harder, but don't run for the
aspirin yet!
|
二 ni - two
第二 dai ni - the second
二月 ni gatsu - February [the 2nd month] |
|
| 三 |
1) san, 2) mi(tsu) -
three, third
Three lines = 3,
still logical!; Hang in there...
|
三 san - three
三角 san kaku - triangle
三月 san gatsu - March [the 3rd month] |
|
| 四 |
1) shi, 2) yon, 3) yo(tsu) -
four, fourth
Ok this is where
logic fails, but don't panic! Just think of 2
little legs dangling in a FOUR
sided box.
|
四 yon or shi
- four
四級 yon kyuu - 4th grade
四月 shi gatsu - April [the 4th month] |
|
| 五 |
1) go, 2) itsu(tsu) -
five, the fifth
This is modern art. 五 is an artist's impression of the
number 5. [well, it kind of looks like the
number!]
|
五 go - five
五月 go gatsu - May [the 5th month]
五ヶ月 go ka getsu - 5 months [note: So far we have seen that
adding a number between 1-12 with 'gatsu' makes
the month's names. But here is how to say a
duration of months: # + ka + getsu -
notice it is 'getsu' not 'gatsu'] |
|
| 六 |
1) roku, 2) mu(tsu), 3) mui
- six, the sixth
A picture of a man
stretching his hands and legs is the character
for '6'
|
六 roku - six
六日 mui ka - the 6th of the month [I hesitate to introduce
this, but instead of counting ichi, ni, san...
for the first 10 days of the month they use other
pronunciations! But don't let this get to you. If
you have to, you can just say, "roku nichi"
(6 day) and will probably be understood]
六月 raku gatsu - June [the 6th month] |
|
| 七 |
1) shichi, 2) nana(tsu), 3) nano-
seven, the seventh
A diagonal line
through an 'L' means 7
|
七 shichi or
nana - seven
七不思議 nana fushigi - the seven wonders
七月 shichi gatsu - July [the 7th month] |
|
| 八 |
1) hachi , 2) ya(tsu), 3) you
- eight, the eighth
If you have studied katakana
(one of the Japanese 'alphabets'), you will
notice this is the same as 'ha.' So hachi
= 8
|
八 hachi -eight
八年間 hachi nen kan - 8 years
八月 hachi gatsu - August [the 8th month] |
|
| 九 |
1) kyuu, 2) ku,
3) kokono(tsu) - nine, the ninth
|
九 kyuu or
ku - nine
九ヵ月 ku ka getsu - 9 months
九月 ku gatsu - September [the 9th month] |
|
| 十 |
| 1) juu, 2) ju + a small tsu (a
short pause), 3) to, 3)
tou - ten Remember: 5 + 5 = +
|
十 juu - ten 十九
juu
kyuu - 19 [lit. 10
& 9]
九十 kyuu juu - 90 [lit. 9 & 10]
十二月 juu ni gatsu - December [the 12th month]
|
|
| 百 |
| 1) hyaku - a hundred, one hundred Remember the line
over & the number of lines inside the box -
that can save some confusion later!
|
二百 ni hyaku - 200
三百 san byaku - 300 [note: sound changes to a
harder 'b' sound
|
|
| 千 |
| 1) sen, 2) chi - a
thousand It looks like a 10 [十] with a slanted
line over it. Think of the line as adding an
extra 0: 1000
|
一千円
issen
en - 1000 yen [the
一 ichi becomes 'iss'
because it is easier to say than 'ichisen.'
Also yen is pronounced 'en']
三千二百 san sen ni hyaku
- 2,200
二千年 ni sen nen - the year 2000, 2 millennium |
|
| 万 |
| 1) ban, 2) man - ten thousand (10,000) The next in numbers.
add another 0
|
百万 hyaku man - a million (1,000,000) [100 &10,000]
一万円 ichi man en - 10,000 yen (about $100 US)
万歳 ban zai - hurrah! banzai! hooray! [usually
said 3 times in a row] |
|
| 父 |
| 1) fu, 2) chichi, 3) tou -
father, dad It looks like a father
tying his tie
|
お父さん
o
tou san - a father
父の日 chichi no hi - Father's Day
父親 chichi oya - father |
|
| 母 |
| 1) bo, 2) haha, 3) kaa -
mother, mom Think of a mother
holding 2 babies close to her
|
お母さん
okaa
san - a mother,
mommy
母の日 haha no hi - Mother's Day
保母 ho bo - a kindergarten teacher, a nurse |
|
| 友 |
| 1) yuu, 2) tomo - a friend |
友達 tomo dachi - friends, a friend
友情 yuu jou - friendship
友好国 yuu kou koku - a friendly nation |
|
| 女 |
| 1) jo, 2) onna - a woman, women,
female Think of a woman
dancing
|
彼女 kano jo - 1) her, 2) girlfriend
女の子 onna no ko - a girl
女優 jo yuu - an actress |
|
| 男 |
| 1) dan, 2) otoko - a man, men, male The top part 田 means 'rice field' & 力 means 'power.' So a powerful
man works in the rice
field. [You haven't learned those 2 kanji
yet, but I just wanted to show that most kanji
are made of other kanji parts]
|
男女 dan jo - men & women
男らしい otoko rashi - manly, like a man
雪男 yuki otoko - the abominable snowman |
|
| 人 |
| 1) jin, 2) nin, 3)
hito - person, people,
man A very important kanji! Obviously it
is a person with no head or arms trying to do a
split!
|
日本人
ni
hon jin - a
Japanese person [simply add a 'jin' after a
country]
大人 otona - adult, a grown-up [this is an
irregular reading]
外国人 gai koku jin - foreigner
美人 bi jin - a beautiful woman
宇宙人 u chuu jin - a space alien |
|
子
|
| 1) shi, 2) ko - a child, a kid, children, the
young A little child with his arms
wide and his mouth open crying
for his mommy
|
子供 ko domo - children, child [the 'usual' word
for 'children'
男の子 otoko no ko - a boy [man's child = boy]
お菓子 okashi - candy, sweets
子猫 ko neko - kitten [child cat] |
|
All the Kanji on the Level 4
Test: #1 
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