N4漢字 Flashcards
降
DESCEND
Readings: On’yomi: こう Kun’yomi: お.りる, ふ.る
Radical Combination: 牛 Cow 夂 Winter 阝 Butcher
A butcher, in the winter, takes a cow to descend with him into the killing room. They descend there by taking an elevator. This is where the butcher will slaughter the cow for dinner.
Reading Mnemonic: The killing room’s elevator begins to descend again. It’s こういち! He’s here to help the butcher. The cow shudders in fear as the butcher and こういち approach.
降る
ふる
to come down, to fall
(ex: rain)
緒
TOGETHER
Radical Combination: 糸 Thread 者 Someone
Readings: On’yomi しょ; Kun’yomi: None
Meaning Mnemonic:You thread someone together with thread. Someone is falling apart so you use thread to put them back together.
Reading Mnemonic: You’re threading this someone back together as part of a show (しょ). The show is a demonstration to show med students how to thread someone’s skin together after they have an accident. You’re the most experienced, so you’re leading the show.
一緒 （に）
TOGETHER
いっしょ
窓
Radical Combination
穴 Hole
ム Pile
心 Heart
Readings:
On’yomi そう
Kun’yomi まど
The feeling of a big hole pile up upon my heart, as I stare out of the window and think about life..
疲れる
Reading:
つかれる
Meaning Explanation:
The kanji itself means exhausted making the verb version to be exhausted or to be tired. Don’t confuse this with “to be sleepy.” No, this is a different kind of tired, like a physical or mental one, like you just worked out or studied a ton.
Reading Explanation:
For example, if you tried to lift two cars (つか) you’d become exhausted for sure. So, think about that as you learn this word’s reading.
Radical Combination:
疒 Sick
皮 Skin
Readings: On’yomi ひ , Kun’yomi つか.れる
袋
SACK
Radical Combination:
衣 Clothes
代 Substitute
Readings: On’yomi たい, Kun’yomi ふくろ
Meaning Mnemonic:
You keep your substitute clothes in a sack. The clothes in the sack are just substitute clothes, so they only come out in emergencies.
Reading Mnemonic:
You need your substitute clothes so you take our your substitute clothes sack. You open it up to grab your substitute clothes, only to find out that there is a ton of salmon roe inside your sack. Oh man, you forgot all about putting that in there. You yell: F**K ROE (ふくろ) because that roe destroyed all your clothes and made it nasty.
塩
SALT
Radical Combination:
Gun
口 Mouth
土 Grave
皿 Plate
Readings: On’yomi えん, Kun’yomi しお
Meaning Mnemonic: On a grave lies a gun and a plate of mouths. You pick up the plate to eat, but find it quite bland. You add some salt to make it tastier.
塩辛い
しおからい
SALTY (TASTE)
痛
Radical Combination:
用 Elephant
マ Mama
疒 Sick
Readings: On’yomiつう, Kun’yomi いた.い
Meaning Mnemonic: A sick mama needs an elephant doctor to treat her pain. The sick mama has a strange sickness that had been forgotten by most doctors, but not the elephant doctors, because elephants never forget. This elephant doctor will know how to alleviate the sick mama’s pain.
痛い
PAINFUL
Reading: いたい
Reading Explanation: 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: An eater (いた) is someone who eats. But, the eater hurt his mouth. So now it’s painful to eat.
匹
SMALL ANIMAL (also for counter)
Radical Combination:
儿 Legs
匚 Cage
Readings: On’yomi: ひき
Meaning Mnemonic: In the cage there are some legs. They are the legs attached to a small animal. The hik is that you cannot detach the body of the small animal to remove it from the cage. Shame.
怖
SCARY
Radical Combination:
ナ Narwhal
巾 Two Face
忄 Fish Stick
Readings:
On’yomi: ふ
Kun’yomi: こわ.*
Meaning Mnemonic: A fishstick gets caught in a battle between a narwhal and Two Face – how scary. This situation is very scary for the fishstick. The narwhal and Two Face are fighting over who gets to eat the fishstick, and it’s a very scary thing to be caught in the middle of.
Reading Mnemonic: But wait! What a fool (ふ) you’ve been. While the narwhal fights Two Face, you can just escape. They’re distracted and won’t even notice. And you thought this was a scary situation. Pshaw!
怖い
SCARY
Reading: こわい
Meaning Explanation: This is a single kanji with an い on the end, meaning you know it’s probably an adjective. What’s the adjective form of scary? It’s also scary.
Reading Explanation: You know what’s really scary, like double scary (because kanji and vocab both mean scary)? How about your coworkers (こわ). They are all insane, and you know it. Absolute nutjobs they are.
鍋
POT
Radical Combination:
金 Gold
冋 Mustache
Readings: Kun’yomi なべ
Meaning Mnemonic: A gold man has one mustache above his lip and one mustache below his lip and keeps all his extra mustaches safely tucked away in a pot. This man is made of gold and has a lot of money. That’s how he can afford to groom two mustaches at the same time. If anything should happen to one, he has plenty of back up mustaches in his mustache storage pot.
Reading Mnemonic: The mustachioed man’s wife asks if he loves his pot of mustaches more than he loves her. “Nah babe (なべ),” he says. “Nah, babe. Nah.”
