Kanji - Level 9 - Vocab Flashcards
全部
All
Kanji: 全 all + 部 part
If you take all parts and put them together, you have all things. The entire collection. It is whole.
Reading: ぜんぶ
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
天使
Angel
Kanji: 天 heaven + 使 use
One who uses heaven to their advantage is someone from heaven, like an angel.
Reading: てんし
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
角度
Angle
Radicals: 角 angle + 度 degree
An angle degree is just an angle. 90 degrees? 160 degrees? They’re all still angles when you come down to it.
Reading: かくど
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
発表
Announcement
Kanji: 発 department + 表 express
I’m going to express my departure. That is my only announcement.
Reading: はっぴょう
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well. The ひょう changes to ぴょう and the はつ gets shortened, though, so just about everything about this word is weird.
記事
Article
Kanji: 記 write down + 事 action
When you write down a lot of stuff focusing on one thing it’s called an article. If it’s on something that just happened it will probably be a news story.
Reading: きじ
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
仮定
Assumption
Kanji: 仮 temporary + 定 determine
A temporary determination is something you’re not totally sure about. You’ve decided to think of something in a certain way, but only for now. If more information comes to light, you may change. That’s why this word means assumption or hypothesis.
Note that similar to English “hypothesis,” this is also a more formal word in Japanese.
Reading: かてい
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
通り
Avenue
Kanji: 通 pass through + り
You know the word 通る hopefully by now. That is the verb version of this word, which means “to pass through.” So, if this is the noun version, what is it that you use to pass through something? To drive or walk along? That would be an avenue (or street, road, etc). This is a pretty common word in Japan, and good for not getting lost.
Reading: とおり
The reading is the same as the word 通る, so as long as you know that, you should be able to read this one as well. Mind the strange long お sound!
美しい
Beautiful
Kanji: 美 beauty + し + い
This is a single kanji with an い on the end, meaning you know it’s probably an adjective. More precisely, it has しい on the end, which makes it even more likely it’s an adjective. What’s the adjective form of beauty? It’s beautiful.
Reading: うつくしい
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun’yomi reading. You didn’t learn that reading with this kanji, so here’s a mnemonic to help you. It’s a long reading for a mnemonic, but try your best.
You look at someone who is beautiful. What an easy life they’ve lived. No hard work and all they do is pamper themselves to stay beautiful. Feel disgusted. You walk up to this person and say: “U too cushy! (うつくしい).
Sorry for adding the whole word in there for the reading mnemonic, but I thought it worked out better that way. Just know that the word isn’t うつくしいしい or something weird like that. The hiragana on the end is part of the mnemonic as well.
美人
Beautiful woman
Kanji: 美 beauty + 人 person
A beautiful person is a beautiful woman. Wait, why isn’t this a beautiful person? In fact, this word used to have a broader meaning, but for some reason it’s generally only used for women in modern Japanese.
Reading: びじん
This is a jukugo 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:
Where you’re from, every beautiful woman wears bee jeans (びじん). That’s right, jeans made out of bees. Beauty knows no pain after all!
気を付けて
Be careful
Kanji: 気 energy + を + 付 attach + け + て
This word contains the words 気 (energy) and 付ける (to attach). So, when you attach energy to something you’re focusing in on it, right? This word is a sort of “order” as well, since it’s te-form there at the end. It’s a set phrase people say to other people who are doing dangerous things. It’s kind of like saying “Attach energy to what you’re doing! Stay focused!” A simpler way to translate this would be to say this word means be careful or take care, though. Learn this word so that you can always show that you’re caring for your friends!
Reading: きをつけて
The readings come from the two words 気 and 付ける. So long as you know those from the previous levels, you should be able to read this one as well.
白黒
Black and white
Kanji: 白 white + 黒 black
Something is both white and black. It is black and white (you can also say white and black if you prefer).
Reading: しろくろ
The readings are kun’yomi, but you should have seen both 白 and 黒い separately as vocabulary by now. It’s the same readings here, so you can apply that knowledge and read this word!
体重
Body weight
Kanji: 体 body + 重 heavy
How heavy is your body? Figure that out and you’ll have your body weight.
Reading: たいじゅう
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
本屋
Bookstore
Kanji: 本 book + 屋 roof
A book shop is a shop that sells books. A bookstore.
Reading: ほんや
The readings are the ones that you learned with the kanji.
肉屋
Butcher shop
Kanji: 肉 meat + 屋 roof
A meat shop is a place that sells meat. Who sells meat? A butcher shop.
Reading: にくや
For 肉 you use the にく reading (which you learned with the kanji). For 屋 you use the kun’yomi, which you learned with the kanji. Basically, if you learned the kanji readings, you can read this word!
交代
Change
Kanji: 交 mix + 代 substitute
If you mix and substitute two people, that’s a change of personnel, or a substitution. Perhaps those people are even working in shifts, so they mix and substitute each other at regular intervals.
You’ll see this word in pretty diverse contexts, because it can refer to anything from a change of political regime, to the substitution of a player during a match, to factory shifts. The underlying meaning is that one person or group is switched out with another.
Reading: こうたい
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You haven’t learned this reading for 代 yet, so here’s a mnemonic to help you:
A change calls for a tie (たい). If you’re the new company president, or you’re going in to work to start your shift, you’d better make sure you look the part, so get that tie nice and straight.
服
Clothes
Kanji: 服 clothes
The kanji and the word are exactly the same. That means they share meanings as well.
Reading: ふく
The reading is the reading you learned with the kanji and uses the on’yomi even though it’s a single word. Very strange, but convenient for you so long as you remember this exception reading word.
工事
Construction
Kanji: 工 construction + 事 action
Industry actions are things industries do. The actions of industry create a lot of construction, whether it be the construction of items or the construction of roads, factories, and more.
Reading: こうじ
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
相談
Consultation
Kanji: 相 mutual + 談 talk
A mutual talk. Both sides are talking to each other and the feelings are mutual. Imagine you’re discussing a problem. You want to get help with it, so you get some consultation from your friend. This discussion was very helpful.
Reading: そうだん
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
〜ヶ月
Counter for months
Kanji: ヶ + 月 moon
Alright, so this one’s a bit weird. See that oddly small ヶ there? Well, together with 月 (month), it becomes a counter for months. You’ll use this when you want to talk about a specific number of months, so not when you’re saying January, February, etc.
Note that you’ll run into different variants of this. While 一ヶ月 is the most common, you’ll also encounter 一か月, 一カ月, and rarely 一箇月. Luckily, they’re all read the same, just written differently. Speaking about reading, let’s get to it.
Reading: かげつ
The little ヶ might be slightly misleading, as you’ll have to read this as か. The rest is easy though, as 月 just takes a normal on’yomi reading. And since we’re not talking about specific months, that means it’s just げつ, making this 〜かげつ.
決定
Decision
Kanji: 決 decide + 定 determine
It’s been decided and determined. The decision has been made.
Reading: けってい
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well. Just be sure to take note of the shortened けつ in 決. It goes to けっ.
〜度
Degrees
Kanji: 度 degree
The kanji degree can mean both degree in terms of angles and degree in terms of temperature. This word is how you talk about these things. Just attach it to a number and you have yourself the number of degrees that something is. After the numbers 1, 2 and 3 (and in some other situations) this can also mean times.
Reading: ど
The reading is the same as the kanji reading you learned. When writing out the answer to this reading, omit the 〜 as it’s only there to let you know that some other word should come before it.
出発
Departure
Kanji: 出 exit + 発 departure
You exit and then make a departure. This is just a departure.
Reading: しゅっぱつ
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well. The しゅつ gets shortened and はつ changes to ぱつ. No wonder you want to make a departure, you want to get away from crazy readings like this.
不自由
Discomfort
Kanji: 不 not + 自 self + 由 reason
Remember how 自由 means freedom? Well when you add not it causes you discomfort and really inconveniences you. That not is in the way of your freedom.
Reading: ふじゆう
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
発見
Discovery
Kanji: 発 departure + 見 see
You make departure from your home off into the great beyond. You will go to see the unseen, and hopefully make a great discovery.
Reading: はっけん
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. You know the はつ part, which gets shortened to はっ. The 見 is unlike what you learned with 見, though.
In order to remember that this is けん, imagine you’re going out to make a discovery of some strange new lands. With strange new lands, there comes strange new people. This one has a samurai named Ken けん on it. He’s trying to discover new things too!
二重
Double
Kanji: 二 two + 重 double
When you have two heavy things, you have double and dual the heavy (compared to one, at least).
This word is a prefix attached to other words to show that it is “double.” 二重 kanji time!
Reading: にじゅう
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
毎度
Each time
Kanji: 毎 every + 度 time
When something happens at every occurrence and at every degree, it’s something that happens frequently. It happens each time.
Reading: まいど
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
楽勝
Easy victory
Kanji: 楽 comfort + 勝 win
A win that was an ease. That is an easy victory or an easy win. Don’t hope for a lot of these, though. Hope for tough wins instead, they actually make you better.
Note that this can be used both literally, to describe an easy victory at a game or contest; or more figuratively, to describe something as “easy” in general.
Reading: らくしょう
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
小学校
Elementary school
Kanji: 小 small + 学 study + 校 school
You’ve seen 学校 from a couple levels ago. Now we’re adding a small to it. What is a “small school”? That’s a school for small people, making it an elementary school.
Reading: しょうがっこう
The reading is the regular on’yomi reading of 小 plus the vocab word 学校 that you’ve seen previously. Combine these two things for the reading of 小学校.
用事
Errand
Kanji: 用 task + 事 action
A task action is something you have to do (because 事 is all about actions). What’s another way to say “an action that is a task,” though? I would say errand or even business.
Reading: ようじ
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
重要
Essential
Kanji: 重 heavy + 要 need
When something has a heavy need, you know that that thing is essential. It is important.
Reading: じゅうよう
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
丁度
Exactly
Kanji: 丁 street + 度 degree
Okay, we’re going to cheat a little bit to remember the meaning of this word. Let’s say you take the temperature of the street. It is exactly one hundred degrees. That’s exactly what it is. Just 100 degrees, not one degree more or less. You put your eggs on the street and watch them cook.
Reading: ちょうど
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
試験
Examination
Kanji: 試 try + 験 test
If you attempt a test, you’re taking an examination. There are a lot of these in Japan, so make sure you know this word if you want to fit in with all the whining and whinging that students do, especially come the final year of high school.
Reading: しけん
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
体験
Experience
Kanji: 体 body + 験 test
Your body goes through tests and each time it does, it gains a little more experience. What has your body experienced? What tests has your body been through?
Reading: たいけん
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
実験
Experiment
Kanji: 実 truth + 験 test
A test that tries to find truth is an experiment. This is because you don’t know the truth, so the only way to find it is to try things out and test them. Thus, experiment!
Reading: じっけん
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own. Take note that the つ in じつ is turned into a small っ, though.
火事
Fire
Kanji: 火 fire + 事 action
Fire is a thing that makes more fire. Basically fire is fire.
Reading: かじ
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
魚屋
Fish shop
Kanji: 魚 fish + 屋 shop
A fish shop is a fish shop, a place from which you buy fish. Especially in Japan, very important.
Reading: さかなや
The kun’yomi reading is used for the 魚 (so it’s さかな) and the kun’yomi reading is used for 屋 (や). You’ll have to use the reading of 魚 from the vocabulary from a couple levels ago to remember the reading of this one.
試食
Food sample
Kanji: 試 try + 食 eat
Go ahead and try an eat. How was that little try? That little food sample? That little taste?
You know when you walk into the supermarket and have people offering you the tiniest cube of cheese? That’s what this is. So this word is commonly used in the context of product demonstrations or food events.
Reading: ししょく
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
表
Front
Kanji: 表 express
This is the noun version of the kanji express. If you want to understand what something is trying to express you usually look at its front or its exterior. This word is usually used for the exterior face of buildings.
Reading: おもて
Since this word is made up of a single kanji, it should use the kun’yomi reading. You haven’t learned this reading yet though, so here’s a mnemonic to help you:
You’re standing in front of a building, staring at its front. You spend some time gazing at it before you realize what it is. “Oh, motel (おもて)”, you say aloud. A little time looking at the exterior and you’re able to figure it out.
家具
Furniture
Kanji: 家 house + 具 tool
Your house tools aren’t the tools you use to build a house. They’re more like the things that are a part of your house that you use like tools. Those things would be your furniture. So, remember, your house tools are just furniture.
Reading: かぐ
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
ガラス
Glass
Kanji: No kanji (woah!)
This comes from the word glass, and it refers to the stuff used to make Cinderella’s slippers, and windows, in which case it can also mean a pane of glass.
We’ll learn how to say the other meanings of “glass” later!
Reading: ガラス
お客さん
Guest
Kanji: お + 客 guest + さ + ん
The さん on the end is the name honorific さん. It’s there to show some respect. It’s like saying “Mr. Guest!” or something like that. But that sounds dumb in English. We’ll just call this word guest, visitor, or customer. You’ll hear this word a lot when you’re at a store or you’re a customer somewhere in Japan. You are the お客さん, in that situation. Alternatively, you’ll also hear お客さま which is a more polite version of this word (because it ends in さま and not さん).
Reading: おきゃくさん
The reading is the reading you learned with the kanji. Just add the hiragana on the end and you’ll be good to go.
客室
Guest room
Kanji: 客 guest + 室 room
A guest’s room is the guest room (the room you put guests in, duh!).
Reading: きゃくしつ
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
ハート形
Heart shaped
Kanji: ハ + ー + ト + 形 shape
ハート is of course “heart” and you know that 形 means shape. You’ve probably already figured this one out. It’s heart shaped.
You can add this kanji to all sorts of other things too to say “____ shaped.” Give it a try!
Readings: はーとがた, ハートがた
The reading for the kanji portion uses the kun’yomi reading. This is kind of like the reading you already learned for 形 just without the ち part. And rendaku happens too, so it becomes がた. If you can remember that, you should be able to remember this reading too!
高さ
Height
Kanji: 高 tall + さ
You’ve seen the word 高い from a couple levels ago. This word is related to that. It’s like 大きい versus 大きさ, where one describes the other. In this case, the 高さ is the height of something (while 高い is tall). This word isn’t “price” though. For that you’d ask いくらですか？ (how much is it?).
Reading:たかさ
Use the reading of 高い (たかい) to help you to learn and remember the reading for this one. They are the same with just the hiragana at the end different.
高校生
High school student
Kanji: 高 tall + 校 school + 生 life
You know 高校 means “high school.” So, a “life” that does high school is a high school student. This is like how 中学生 are middle school students and 小学生 are elementary school students!
Reading: こうこうせい
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well. Use the reading of 高校 from before to learn the reading of this word as well, if it helps.
家事
Housework
Kanji: 家 house + 事 action
The only action you should be doing in my house is the housework and my chores. This isn’t a hotel. Get moving! Clean my dishes!
Reading: かじ
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
何度
How many times
Kanji: 何 what + 度 degree
If someone asks you what occurrence or what degrees they’re really trying to ask you how many times something happened. Sometimes they’re asking what temperature it is too.
Reading: なんど
The reading is a combination of kun’yomi and on’yomi readings. That being said, both readings for both kanji are the readings you learned already, so you should be able to read this.
大事
Important
Kanji: 大 big + 事 action
A big action means something big is going down. This is no ordinary action. It is an action that is important.
Reading: だいじ
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. Since 大 has two on’yomi readings, here’s a mnemonic to help you remember which one to use:
Nothing in your life is as important or valuable to you as dyes (だい). You really just love dyes more than anything else. Dyes, dyes, dyes!
和風
Japanese style
Kanji: 和 peace + 風 wind
The Japanese style style. The Japanese often like to think they’re very unique and have a very special kind of style (and often times they do). So, you’ll hear this word used when someone wants to describe this unique sense of style. Wafuuuu!
Note that this word uses alternative kanji meanings in both of the kanji. They’re in the kanji explanation, but they’re not the primaries, so it may take a little extra effort to learn this word depending on what you studied!
Reading: わふう
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
和服
Japanese style clothes
Kanji: 和 peace + 服 clothes
Japanese style clothes (Japanese Style Clothes). We’re talking kimonos and yukata and things like that. Basically, this differentiates Japanese clothing from Western clothing.
What kind of clothes will you wear to the festival tonight? Oh, probably some 和服.
Reading: わふく
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
和食
Japanese style food
Kanji: 和 peace + 食 eat
Japanese style eat … well, let’s change “eat” to “food” and you have Japanese style food. This is a good way to differentiate between an American style restaurant and a Japanese style restaurant. What kind of food you feeling like tonight? Oh, how about some 和食?
Reading: わしょく
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
和室
Japanese style room
Kanji: 和 peace + 室 room
A Japanese style room tends to be pretty small. This mainly refers to the kind of room that’s covered in tatami mats, though. If you’re looking for places to stay in Japan, a 和室 will be something like that. You’ll pull the futon out of the closet and sleep on the floor. So comfy, these Japanese style rooms!
Reading: わしつ
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you’ll know how to read this as well.
仮名
Kana
Kanji: 仮 temporary + 名 name
The temporary names. These are the kana (that’s hiragana and katakana). Why are the “temporary names” kana, though? Perhaps they were never meant to be a main way to write the names of the kanji… They are just a temporary way to write the name of kanji you don’t know how to write the “correct” way (aka kanji)? That’s just a guess, but it should help you to remember that this word means “kana,” at least.
Reading: かな
The reading for 仮 is the one you learned with the kanji. The 名 portion is not, however, and uses its kun’yomi reading (な), which you saw with the vocabulary word 名 (な). How to remember all this, though? Think of it this way:
The people who made kanji really don’t want you to know kana. It’s bad for business. They want anyone who uses the word “kana” to suffer, so they decided to make one part on’yomi and another part kun’yomi. Don’t let them get you!
