The reading of a kanji character or a word written in kanji characters refers to how it is “read” in terms of kana characters.
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How to choose between “よん” (yon) vs “し” (shi) for “四” (4) and “しち” (shichi) vs “なな” (nana) for “七” (7)?
Two numbers in Japanese have two pronunciation alternatives.
四 / 4 can be pronounced either "よん" (yon) or "し" (shi)
七 / 7 can be pronounced either "しち" (shichi) or "なな" (nana)
I know that "し" ...
9
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4answers
692 views
When Chinese personal names are written in Japanese in kanji is there always an obvious reading?
In their comment to an answer on the question "Are foreign personal names usually written in katakana rather than Romaji?", user sawa says:
... Chinese names should be written in kanji rather than ...
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2answers
358 views
What are the rules for reading numbers before a foreign counter-word?
Is there a rule of thumb for knowing the reading of a number when it is written in western numerals, and is followed by a loaned counter-word?
For example, how would you pronounce the "1" in １セット? My ...
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2answers
174 views
Reading a number range
I have a bottle of 洗顔料(facial soap), and the instructions are:
ご使用量の目安 ポンプ１～２回 (use about 1 to 2 pumps)
If I were to read 1~2 aloud, how would I do it?
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3answers
295 views
What are the rules determining the use of the dash in katakana?
As explained in this question, a dash character is used in katakana as an extension of a sound.
First, what exactly is this character called? A "nobasu mark"?
Anyway, I saw this sign in Shibuya the ...
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7answers
721 views
Does anyone have advice on how to get over/through/around the intermediate language plateau? (Self-learner)
How do you get through this? Especially in regards to reading. How do you practice reading at beyond the beginner level (No little black sambo's or whatever other children's books like I found in the ...
8
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1answer
290 views
How is 名 pronounced in computer terms?
For usernames, etc., you usually see like ユーザ名 or something similar. Or like on my Skype, it says Skype名. How is the 名 pronounced in these situations? I've never been able to conclusively find this ...
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4answers
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What is the difference between 「食う」 and 「食べる」?
I've often seen 「食べる」 used, when should we use 「食う」 ? Are these two interchangeable ? Can you provide examples ?
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2answers
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How to read the X in 5X4間?
A book about architecture I'm trying to read (it's a bit of a slog what with the technical jargon and such) contained this description of a temple building: 二重、初重５X4間、裳階 （もこし） つき、上重４X3間. So it's two ...
9
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4answers
595 views
What's with this “On reading”/“Kun reading” thing? Is it important to learn both as a beginner?
I was reading this article on Japanese numerals and I first encountered the whole On reading/Kun reading thing, with an additional column on "Preferred reading," which was almost always the On ...
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1answer
195 views
Why is 五右衛門 read “goemon”?
Why is the name 五右衛門 read as ごえもん?
How can the three kanji 五右衛 be read with only two syllables?
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1answer
147 views
How to choose a reading for 降る? ふる & くだる
I always read 降る as ふる but for a particular sentence I noticed that the reading was written as くだる. Are there any tips to help figure out which reading to use?
Examples:
たとえ雨が降ろうとサイクリングにいくぞ。
I ...
8
votes
2answers
201 views
Pronunciation of 家 in …家ちんも安い
Here's the actual sentence:
私の部屋は、家ちんも安いし、駅にも近くて便利です。
How do you read '家ちん' and what does it mean? It's most likely that ちん is usually written in kanji since I got the sentence from a Japanese ...
7
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1answer
140 views
How do you read zeros in abbreviated years? (i.e. ０３年)
I came across ０３年度 and ０９年度, and while the meaning is clear I didn't know the actual way of reading it. My first reaction was ゼロさんねんど, but I have no way of checking if that's right. I thought it might ...
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1answer
202 views
方 - also read ほう when referring to a person?
The following sentence is from "A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar":
留守番電話は、一方ではかかる方にもかける方にも便利な面もあるが、他方ではお互いに直接話が出来ないから、不自然な面もある
"The answering machine is, on the one hand, very ...
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2answers
175 views
Which readings would you use to pronounce people's names?
I'm confused whether it is normally appropriate to use On-readings or Kun-readings when dealing with people's names; I'm fine when its just two character names; I just make a logical deduction in my ...
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0answers
129 views
What are some words with kanji/readings/meanings that don't match? [closed]
Maybe a hard to understand question, but for example, I love the word 百日紅 (さるすべり) because it's the name of a red flower and uses some very poetic kanji (one hundred days of red) but opts instead for a ...
