Describing & opposites
Tap an example word to hear it pronounced.
On'yomi & Kun'yomi
On'yomi (音読み) is the reading borrowed from Chinese, usually used in compound words, e.g. 三月 (さんがつ, March).
Kun'yomi (訓読み) is the native Japanese reading, used when the kanji stands alone or takes kana endings, e.g. 三つ (みっつ, three items).
By convention the readings list writes on'yomi in katakana (シュ) and kun'yomi in hiragana (さけ). Example words show furigana in hiragana, so the same on'yomi can look like シュ in the list but しゅ in a word.
What the component colors mean
Blue - the main radical the kanji is filed under in dictionaries.
Green - a component that hints at the meaning.
Orange - a component that hints at the reading (sound).
Grey - another building block, with no clear meaning or sound role.
tall, high; expensive
high school
high pitch, treble
many, numerous
probably, perhaps
large number, majority
few, scarce
a little, a bit
boy, youth
weak
low flame, low heat
strength, dynamics
bright, cheerful
to dawn, to end (a period)
obvious, clear
old (not new)
used, secondhand
old book, used book
new
newspaper
new year
long
school principal
company president
wide, spacious
plaza, open square
vast, huge
thin, slender
fine, detailed
long and thin
Practice
Test yourself on this lesson's kanji.