Kanji - Level 1 - Vocab Flashcards

Question

大きさ

Answer 1

Size Kanji: 大 big + き + さ In Japanese, さ on the end of a word is often the equivalent of "-ness" in English. In other words, if you replace the い on the end of an い-adjective with さ, you have a noun. In this case, the adjective is 大きい (big) and the noun 大きさ means "bigness", aka size. Reading: おおきさ When a vocab has okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) it is probably going to be the kun'yomi reading. Since you learned the on'yomi reading with the kanji 大, we'll have to use a mnemonic to remember this word. When you saw the size of (pick something surprising), you said "おお *#$@!" Really imagine something surprising. Say the おお part out loud, as well. Think about the size of whatever you're looking at, too, and how big it is.

Answer 2

Ten Kanji: 十 ten When a vocab is alone like this with no okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) it tends to steal its meaning from the kanji it came from. That means this vocab word also means ten. Reading: じゅう When a vocab is alone and consists of a single kanji like this, usually it uses the kun'yomi reading for the kanji. But, numbers are an exception and they use the on'yomi reading (which you learned when you learned the kanji). That means you know that this word's reading is じゅう already.

Answer 3

Three Kanji: 三 three When a vocab is a single kanji and alone like this, it usually steals its meaning from the parent kanji. That goes for this word too, making the meaning of this word three. Reading: さん When a vocab is alone like this with no okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) it usually uses its kun'yomi reading. Numbers are an exception, though, and use the on'yomi reading. You learned the on'yomi reading when you learned this kanji, so you already know that the reading for this vocab is さん.

Answer 4

Three people Kanji: 三 three + 人 person You have the kanji for three and person. Common sense will tell you what this word is. It's three people. Reading: さんにん This is a jukugo (kanji compound) word, which usually means on'yomi readings from the kanji. Since 人 has two on'yomi readings, here's a mnemonic to help you remember which one to use: Apparently, there are three people working as Santa-san at Nintendo (さんにん)! It's a big company, so obviously they need three Santas.

Answer 5

Three things Kanji: 三 three + つ This word follows the "number of things" pattern where there's a kanji for a number plus つ on the end. Whenever you see this, you know the word means "____ things." Knowing that, as long as you know the kanji (which you do) you can figure out what number of things it is. For this one, it's the kanji for three plus つ. So, this one is three things. Reading: みっつ Since all of the "number of things" words all follow the same pattern (number plus つ), you really just have to remember the part before the つ (and then remember that the つ is in all of these). All of the readings are the kun'yomi reading, which means we'll have to use a mnemonic to remember them (you know the on'yomi reading of the kanji portion). What thing do you have three of? The three things that you have are actually three versions of yourself. "Who is the real one?" you ask yourself. "It's me!" "Wait, no, it's me!" Just remember that there are three of you, and they're all saying "me me me me me" to try and prove that they're the real you.

Answer 6

To Enter Kanji: 入 enter + る This vocab word has okurigana, which is the hiragana part that comes after the kanji. When a vocab's okurigana makes an "う/oo" sound (in this case, we have a る), it's often going to be a verb. So in this case, the kanji 入 is enter. The vocab 入る is to enter. We're just taking the kanji and using it in a verb! Reading:はいる When a vocab is a single kanji with okurigana, chances are it's going to be the kun'yomi reading, which you don't usually learn in the kanji (you usually learn the on'yomi reading). So, let's learn the kun'yomi reading for this word using its meaning. When you enter the room, what do you do? You say "Hi" (はい) to everyone to the point of absurdity. "Hi there. Oh hi Frank. Oh hi there Susan. Oh hi there lamp."

Answer 7

To lift something Kanji: 上 above + げ + る This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means above and this verb is related to that meaning. It means to lift something or to raise something. It's a transitive verb, meaning that you do something to something else. You raise something. Like your hands! Reading: あげる Since this word has okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) you know that it's probably going to use the kun'yomi reading, which you didn't learn with the kanji. Here's a mnemonic to help you: You want to lift something, and that something is aardvark (あ) above your head. Why? Because even though aardvarks have long tongues, they can't reach the ants in the trees. But when you raise this aardvark it can get at those yummy ants!

Answer 8

To lower something Kanji: 下 below + げ + る This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means below so the verb version of that is when you put something below you. It's to lower something. It can also mean to hang something, such as a lamp from the ceiling. This is a transitive verb, which means that the verb is done by one entity onto another. In other words, you lower something. Like your impossibly high expectations for yourself. Take it easy! Reading: さげる Since this word has okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) you know that it's probably going to be the kun'yomi reading, which you didn't learn with the kanji. Here's a mnemonic to help you: You want to lower something. In this case, it's a tree, so you need a saw (さ). Lower the tree to the ground gently while you slowly saw it down!

Answer 9

With all one's strength Kanji: 力 power + いっぱい You've hopefully already learned that 力 means "power". You might have also heard the word いっぱい, because it's used a lot in conversation. It has a few meanings (you'll learn more of them later) but the important one here is "full" or "a lot". Put these two words together and you have full power, with all one’s strength, and as hard as one can. Remember this one with all your strength! Just a side note: いっぱい can also be written in kanji, which you'll learn later on! However, in simple words like this one it's usually written in kana. Reading: ちからいっぱい力 uses the same reading as you learned with the vocabulary. That's because this is basically two separate words stuck together.

Answer 10

Woman Kanji: 女 woman When a kanji is alone and doesn't have any okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) it's usually going to take the same meaning as the kanji it comes from. So in this case, you know that this word means woman. But watch out! Using 女 on its own can often come off as blunt and disrespectful, especially in casual chats. We’ll introduce you to neutral equivalents soon! Reading: おんな When a word is a single kanji with no okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) it tends to use a kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn the kun'yomi reading when you learned the kanji itself, so let's use a mnemonic to remember the vocab word. There's a woman in front of you. Who is she? She's Mona (おんな) Lisa!

Answer 11

Two things Kanji: 二 two + つ This word follows the "number of things" pattern where there's a kanji for a number plus つ on the end. Whenever you see this, you know the word means "____ things." Knowing that, as long as you know the kanji (which you do) you can figure out what number of things it is. For this one, it's the kanji for two plus つ. So, this one is two things. Reading: ふたつ Since all of the "number of things" words all follow the same pattern (number plus つ), you really just have to remember the part before the つ (and then remember that the つ is in all of these). All of the readings are the kun'yomi reading, which means we'll have to use a mnemonic to remember them (you know the on'yomi reading of the kanji portion). So what thing do you have two of? The two things that you have consist of one foot and another foot (ふた). Remember from the on'yomi how you had two knees (for the reading に)? Now look further down your leg at one foot then over to the other foot. Two foot!

Answer 12

Two people Kanji: 二 two + 人 person When you have two and person and then put them together, what do you get? You get a pair or two people. Reading: ふたり The reading for this word is quite strange. If you know 二つ's reading, you can use that to remember the 二 part (ふた). But, the り that is the 人 is a total exception, something you won't see too often (though you may have seen it in 一人). If you can use the reading of 一人 (aka if you've learned it already) then definitely use that. If not, do your best to remember the reading on your own. It's a strange one that doesn't connect to much else.

Answer 13

Two Kanji: 二 two When a vocab word is a single kanji without okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) it usually has the same meaning as the kanji it's spawned from. If you know the kanji meaning you'll also know the vocab meaning. It's two! Reading: に When a vocab word is a single kanji with no okurigana, it usually uses the kun'yomi reading. Numbers are an exception to this. Numbers use the on'yomi reading, which you've already learned by learning the kanji's reading! How nice!