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I think that 文 means "sentence" or "text"; 文章 means the same and also can mean "writing" or "letter". Is that the only difference?

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  • I wish members here quit using romaji as hurigana because if they are already learning kanji, they should know the kana. Besides, if 文章 is "bunsho", then 文書 will also be "bunsho" when, in reality, the two words are pronounced quite differently.
    – user4032
    Oct 3, 2014 at 23:07
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    @非回答者 I don't think any regulars here use romaji for their furigana (unless they're trying to communicate with someone who clearly only knows romaji), so I'm not sure who the intended audience of your comment is. If the intended audience was the OP, the comment "Please don't use romaji as furigana [...]" would seem a little less like a complaint about every single user on the site. Anyways, I fixed the title. Oct 4, 2014 at 0:25
  • i just thought that kanji and romaji would be best. Sorry for not using furigana. I dont even know how to add it on this sites - could you send me message how to use that on this site?
    – kippix
    Oct 5, 2014 at 15:08

1 Answer 1

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「[文]{ぶん}」 means a "sentence".

「[文章]{ぶんしょう}」 refers to the whole passage or piece of writing.

In other words, 文章 consists of a number of 文's.

文章 does not mean a "letter", but 文 when it is read ふみ is a nice old word for "letter".

「[恋文]{こいぶみ}」, for instance, is an originally Japanese word (no Chinese influence) for 「ラブレター」.

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  • Great explanation. ありがとうございます
    – kippix
    Oct 4, 2014 at 16:24

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