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The Kanji Readings, Meanings & Examples 一
1) ichi, 2) hito(tsu) - one, the first [LINK]
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 [LINK]
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 [LINK]
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 [LINK]
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 [LINK]
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 [LINK]
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 roku gatsu - June [the 6th month] 七
1) shichi, 2) nana(tsu), 3) nano- seven, the seventh [LINK]
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 [LINK]
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 [LINK] 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 [LINK]Remember: 5 + 5 = + 2 hands crossing each other, with 5 fingers on each hand, is 10 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 [LINK]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 [LINK]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 - 3,200 二千年 ni sen nen - the year 2000, 2 millennium 万 1) ban, 2) man – ten thousand (10,000) [LINK]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 [LINK]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 [LINK]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 [LINK] 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 [LINK]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 [LINK]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 [LINK]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 [LINK]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] -- Visitor Ip: 125.160.92.81
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