Kanji for Lessons 1-3

Kanji For Lessons 1-3

These are the kanji for lessons 1 through 3. You will be learning a total of 12 kanji in this lesson. From now on I am going to use these kanji in the place of the hiragana. So make sure to study and memorize these!

The Japanese language has three character sets. They are hiragana, katakana (which you'll learn in Ch. 4) and kanji. Kanji first came to Japan from China in the 4th to 6th century and because of this there are two readings for each kanji. The first one is the "on" reading or "オン". The "on" reading is based on the sound of the original chinese word the kanji was taken from. The "on" reading is usually used when attached to another word or kanji. The second reading of a kanji is called the "kun" reading, or "くん". "Kun" readings of kanji are based on the Japanese sound for that kanji and is usually the sound used when the kanji is by itself. I will give you the "on" and "kun" reading for each kanji.

1. [私]
[On] - シ
[Kun] - わたし - watashi
[Meaning] I, myself

2. [何]
[On] - There is no "on" reading of this kanji.
[Kun] - なに/なん - nani/nan
[Meaning] What

3. [本]
[On] - ホン - hon
[Kun] - もと - moto
[Meaning] Book, source, origin

4.[人]
[On] - ジン/ニン - jin/nin
[Kun] - ひと - hito
[Meaning] Person

5. [車]
[On] - シャ - sha
[Kun] - くるま - kuruma
[Meaning] Car

6. [高]
[On] - コウ -kou
[Kun] - たかい (高い) - takai
[Meaning] Tall, high, expensive

7. [安]
[On] - アン - an
[Kun] - やすい (安い) - yasui
[Meaning] Inexpensive, safe, peaceful

8. [名]
[On] - メイ - mei
[Kun] - な - na
[Meaning] Name

9. [前]
[On] - ゼン - zen
[Kun] - まえ - mae
[Meaning] front, before

10. [日]
[On] - ニチ - nichi
[Kun] - ひ/び - hi/bi
[Meaning] Day, sun

11. [今]
[On] - コン - kon
[Kun] - いま - ima
[Meaning] Now

12. [語]
[On] - There is no "on" reading of this kanji.
[Kun] - ご - go
[Meaning] Word


Here are some words you can write now using the 12 kanji learned:

今日は - こんにちは - konnichiwa - Good afternoon (Though it's usually always written in hiragana.)

今日 - きょう - kyou - Today

(お)名前 - (お)なまえ - (o)namae - Name

日本 - にほん/にっぽん - nihon/nippon - Japan

日本車 - にほんしゃ - nihonsha - Japanese car

日本人 - にほんじん - nihonjin - Japanese (person)

日本語 - にほんご - nihongo - Japanese language

高い車 - たかいくるま - takai kuruma - Expensive car

安い本 - やすいほん - yasui hon - Inexpensive book