Radicals Level 6

Question 1

ホ

Answer 1

Angel

First of all, there’s a cross making up the middle, which automatically makes this a religion-based radical. That cross is the frame of someone’s body and the things coming off of it are wings. This is an angel.

Question 2

血

Answer 2

Blood

There’s a little speck of something on your plate (皿). “What is that?” you ask. Oh no… that speck is BLOOD!!! I hope it’s blood from a nosebleed you suddenly have and not someone else’s blood. (Your waiter is probably gonna get fired, btw.) At least your platelets should stop the bleeding soon. Haha, get it? PLATE-lets? Japanese blood jokes.

Question 3

灬

Answer 3

Boil

This radical looks like the fire from the burner of a stove or the steam coming up off of a pot of water. That’s because this is the boil radical. You need to boil a bunch of water over some flames. This radical looks like all of those parts at once!

Question 4

市

Answer 4

City

You already learned the kanji 市, which means city. We’re treating it as a radical too, since it pops up in many other kanji. When used as a radical, it still means city.

Question 5

亡

Answer 5

Death

There’s a lid on a lion. And you’re stuck under the lid with the lion, which means you will surely meet your death. Or if you don’t want to die, think of the poor lion. If you leave a lion under a lid for too long, death will come for it too. Either way, somebody’s gonna die today.

Question 6

食

Answer 6

Eat

You put on your hat and go outside to kick something white. It’s a big white goose and you killed it with your kick. That’s because you’re going to cook and eat it. Yum!

Question 7

占

Answer 7

Fortune

Someone has a toe in their mouth. They are a fortune teller telling your fortune. But for her to do it, she has to take one of your toes and taste it. This better be a good fortune for you to let someone put your foot in their mouth.

Question 8

禾

Answer 8

Grain

This is a tree with a slide cutting off the top. What do you cut off the top of trees and plants? The grains. Imagine taking a sickle and slicing the grains off rice or wheat. The plant you leave behind will look like this radical. It’s a sign that you got a grain of some sort from it.

Question 9

家

Answer 9

House

Under this roof is a pig. Your pig, because it’s your house! You keep your pig inside where it’s nice and warm. He’s a member of your family, so he deserves to live in your house too.

Question 10

未

Answer 10

Jet

This is like one of those jets that have the little nose-wings going on too. Imagine you’re looking at the jet from the top down, this is what it would look like. It’s also why this is the jet radical.

Question 11

刂

Answer 11

Knife

This is a knife. See how it has two sharp sides? And there’s a little handle at the bottom for the… well the handle. Be careful you don’t cut yourself!

Question 12

斗

Answer 12

Ladle

There’s a ladle scooping up two drops of liquid. See the handle and the scoop part of the ladle? Imagine ladling some water into your mouth. Mmm.

Question 13

L

Answer 13

Lion

This L-shaped radical is the lion radical, because “L is for Lion.” It also looks like a lion’s mouth being opened really, really wide. Imagine a lion opening its mouth to yawn. It looks like this radical!

Question 14

長

Answer 14

Long

You have a modified key radical on top of the kick radical. You kick the key as far as you can, then measure the distance. How long did it travel? How long will it take you to find it? How long will you be in trouble for kicking a key into the woods?

Question 15

表

bottom part, remove life radical from top. (vocab: express/surface)

Answer 15

Kick

These are legs that are bending funny. They’re bending so they can kick you! Imagine someone doing a flying kick at you. Look at their legs and, ah yes, it looks just like this!

Question 16

豕

Answer 16

Pig

Here we have the ground radical, with something underneath it. What is it? What likes lying in the ground, covered in mud? You’ll have to use your imagination here, but see if you can find the four legs, the little piggy ears, and the curly tail at the bottom. That’s right, this is a pig!

Question 17

廾

Answer 17

Twenty

You have 十 plus 十… what do you get when you add these two kanji together? You get twenty.

Question 18

マ

Answer 18

Mama

This radical is just like the katakana character “ma” (マ). So let’s keep things simple and make the radical mama.

Question 19

首

Answer 19

Neck

There are some horns on the ground that you want for yourself. You pick them up and you attach them to your neck. Imagine these horns sticking out of your neck. No one can slit your throat now that your neck is protected.

Question 20

羊

Answer 20

Sheep

This is a sheep and you’re looking at it from above. See the two ears and the body of the sheep going back (with all its wool poking out to the side) and then the little tail sticking out the back. What a cute sheep!

Question 21

舌

Answer 21

Tongue

Something is sticking out of a mouth. Something with a thousand little tastebuds on it. It’s your tongue!

Question 22

歹

Answer 22

Yakuza

The evening radical is under the ground. Who’s doing things underground at night? The Yakuza. Picture Yakuza members sneaking around in the subway, or in the sewers. They’re definitely up to no good down there.