Kanji - Level 12 - Vocab Flashcards
(141 cards)
活動
Action
Kanji: 活 lively + 動 move
The lively moves you make are actions. They’re the activities you do every day to stay fit and healthy!
Reading: かつどう
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.
行動
Action
Kanji: 行 go + 動 move
When you go to move you’re actually making an action. It’s these behaviors when you go and move that determine what people think about you.
Reading: こうどう
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
空港
Airport
Kanji: 空 sky + 港 harbor
Put aside your steampunk blimp fantasies for a moment. A sky harbor is an airport, nothing more.
Reading: くうこう
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.
全員
All members
Kanji: 全 all + 員 member
All members means all members. This is also a fancy way to say everybody.
Reading: ぜんいん
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.
もう
Already
Kanji: No kanji (surprising!)
You’ve mowed your lawn (もう) already? Wow, you’re ahead on your mowing. Good work. You’ll have to do it again soon, though.
This can also mean yet in a question, and anymore with a negative.
Reading: もう
動物
Animal
Kanji: 動 move + 物 thing
A moving thing… think about the “things” that move. Technically it could be a lot of things (aka basically anything), but in this case we are talking about moving living things. We won’t include humans, because humans are too good to be called things. This refers to animals instead.
Reading: どうぶつ
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
鳴き声
Animal cry
Kanji: 鳴 chirp + き + 声 voice
The chirp voice is a sound an animal makes. Sure, it works for birds (which chirp), but it also works with most other animals as well. So, we call this an animal cry.
Reading: なきごえ
The readings are those that you learned with the kanji. 声 gets changed to ごえ, though, so take note of that in your head. Perhaps you can imagine an animal that does a “GOEEEEE” cry.
勝手
As one pleases
Kanji: 勝 win + 手 hand
The hand (or person, as you know 手 often refers to a person) that wins gets to do as one pleases without regard for anyone else.
Reading: かって
The reading for this is weird. It’s all kun’yomi, which luckily you’ve seen before, but still strange. I guess when you do as one pleases you can read kanji however you want, in this case the kun’yomi readings. Do note that there’s a small っ in there before 手, presumably to connect the two readings of the two kanji together.
悪い
Bad
Kanji: 悪 bad + い
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 bad? It’s also bad.
Reading: わるい
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:
Do you know how in the Mario universe all the bad versions are called “WARU” (わる)? For example: “WARUIJI” and “WARIO.” That’s because they are bad. They come from this kanji. So, if you ever need to remember this reading, just think back to Wario and Waruigi.
悪人
Bad person
Kanji: 悪 bad + 人 person
A bad person is a bad person.
Reading: あくにん
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.
野球
Baseball
Kanji: 野 field + 球 sphere
Field Sphere! The greatest sport to grace this earth since a very similar (aka the same) sport, baseball. Think about it, you play on a field and you use a little sphere. Awesome!
Reading: やきゅう
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.
飲み物
Beverage
Kanji: 飲 drink + み + 物 thing
A thing you drink is a beverage.
Reading: のみもの
These are both the kun’yomi readings. You’ve learned them already, so you already know how to read this word!
酒飲み
Boozer
Kanji: 酒 alcohol + 飲 drink + み
We have alcohol and a variant form of 飲む (to drink). So you know this has to do with drinking alcohol. It means a boozer or a drunkard, someone who drinks a lot of alcohol!
Reading: さけのみ
The readings are the vocab words お酒 and 飲む combined together into one. You can guess it’s a kun’yomi reading because of the み on the end of 飲, which should make you think back to vocab words that use these kanji and the kun’yomi readings. If you can do that, you can read this word (and many others, probably!).
親分
Boss
Kanji: 親 parent + 分 part
Who is part parent to you? Your boss! They make it so you can take care of yourself by paying you, don’t they? They’ll break the legs of someone who crosses you. But they won’t help you get back to sleep after you have nightmares. So they’re only part like a parent.
Reading: おやぶん
This word consists of the kun’yomi reading for 親 and the on’yomi reading for 分. You’ve learned both of these so you should be able to read this already!
息
Breath
Kanji: 息 breath
The kanji and the word are exactly the same. That means they share meanings as well.
Reading: いき
Since this word is made up of a single kanji, it should use the kun’yomi reading. When learning the kanji, you didn’t learn that reading, so here’s a mnemonic to help you with this word: You smell someone’s icky (いき) breath. It’s gross. Your skin crawls and your eyes roll back in your head from the icky, icky smell. You might die.
商売
Business
Kanji: 商 merchandise + 売 sell
Selling merchandise is business, commerce, or trade.
Reading: しょうばい
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on’yomi readings from the kanji. You’ve learned them both already!
心配事
Cares
Kanji: 心 heart + 配 distribute + 事 action
The actions and things you have to 心配 about are your cares and worries.
Reading: しんぱいごと
The reading is the reading of 心配 (which you’ve hopefully gotten down okay by now) and 事 using the (こと) reading. It is rendaku’d, as well, so beware of the ごと (just another 心配事, ammiright?).
虫歯
Cavity
Kanji: 虫 insect + 歯 tooth
A tooth bug… Luckily, it’s not some bug living in your tooth, though you can see why someone might think this is what happens. A tooth with a “bug” in it is a tooth with a cavity.
Reading: むしば
The readings are both kun’yomi, but those are the readings you learned with these kanji. Notice that は turns to ば, though. Presumably this is because you might yell out “BAH!” when you find out you have a cavity.
第二章
Chapter two
Kanji: 第 ordinal number prefix + 二 two + 章 chapter
The ordinal number prefix two chapter has a much simpler way of describing it, which is chapter two.
Reading: だいにしょう
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.
陽気
Cheerful
Kanji: 陽 sunshine + 気 energy
If you have a spirit of sunshine you’re a really cheerful person.
Reading: ようき
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
童話
Children’s story
Kanji: 童 juvenile + 話 talk
Don’t think of this as a juvenile talk. Think of 話 the vocab word, which means “story.” If you do that, you get a “juvenile story.” What’s a juvenile story? It’s a children’s story.
Reading: どうわ
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.
音読み
Chinese reading
Kanji: 音 sound + 読 read + み
The sound reading. What could this be…? Wait a sec, think to Japanese and kanji. What’s the reading that uses sounds from another place, specifically China? That’s the Chinese reading, aka the on’yomi. Sounds familiar?
Reading: おんよみ
The reading for 音 is the 音読み. 読み uses the kun’yomi, though, strangely. Way to mess up the one word that should be all on’yomi, Japan. Way. To. Go.
都会
City
Kanji: 都 metropolis + 会 meet
When metropolises meet they become a city. Usually a nice big one.
Reading: とかい
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.
都市
City
Kanji: 都 metropolis + 市 city
A metropolis city is a city. When you’re referring to just a plain ol’ city, sans name, you can use this word.
Reading: とし
This is a jukugo word that uses the on’yomi readings of the kanji. You should be able to read this on your own.