10.1 Kanji: 大, 学, 先, 生, 女, 男, 見, 行, 食, 飲
This module focuses on kanji related to school and daily concepts, as well as kanji for actions, including 大 (big), 学 (study/learn), 先 (previous), 生 (life), 女 (woman), 男 (man), 見 (see), 行 (go), 食 (eat) and 飲 (drink).
Kanji for this module
School: 大, 学, 先, 生
Everyday: 女, 男
Actions: 見, 行, 食, 飲
1. Kanji for school-related and everyday concepts: 大, 学, 先, 生, 女, 男
Here is a table showing the kanji characters 大 (big), 学 (study/learn), 先 (previous), 生 (life), 女 (woman) and 男 (man), along with their kun-readings, on-readings and example phrases. We will focus on the highlighted readings and words:
| Kanji | Kun-reading | On-reading | Example Phrases |
|---|---|---|---|
| 大 | おお（きい） | だい, たい | 大きい（おおきい: ookii: big), 大学（だいがく: daigaku: university), 大人 (おとな: otona: adult)
NOTE: The furigana reading of 大人 cannot be separated into individual kanji readings. This type of reading is called 熟字訓 (じゅくじくん: jukujikun), where a kanji compound has a unique reading distinct from its individual characters. For more information, see Module 7.1. |
| 学 | まな（ぶ） | がく | 学ぶ（まなぶ: manabu: to learn), 学校（がっこう: gakkou: school）, 学生（がくせい: gakusei: student） |
| 先 | さき | せん | 先（さき: saki: previous/early), 先生（せんせい: sensei: teacher), 先月 （せんげつ: sengetsu: last month） |
| 生 | い（きる), う（まれる） | せい, しょう | 生きる（いきる: ikiru: to live), 学生（がくせい: gakusei: student）, 生ビール (なまびいる: nama biiru: draft beer) |
| 女 | おんな | じょ | 女の人（おんなのひと: onna no hito: woman), 女子（じょし: joshi: girl), 女性（じょせい: josei: female） |
| 男 | おとこ | だん | 男の人（おとこのひと: otoko no hito: man), 男子（だんし: danshi: boy), 男性（だんせい: dansei: male） |
2. Kanji for actions: 見, 行, 食, 飲
Here is a table showing the kanji characters 見 (see), 行 (go), 食 (eat) and 飲 (drink), along with their kun-readings, on-readings and example phrases. We will focus on the highlighted readings and words:
| Kanji | Kun-reading | On-reading | Example Phrases |
|---|---|---|---|
| 見 | み（る） | けん | 見る（みる: miru: to see, to watch, to look）, 見学（けんがく: kengaku: study visit） |
| 行 | い（く） | こう, ぎょう | 行く（いく: iku: to go), 行動（こうどう: koudou: action）, 行き先（いきさき: ikisaki: destination） |
| 食 | た（べる） | しょく | 食 べる（たべる: taberu: to eat）, 食べ物（たべもの: tabemono: food), 食事（しょくじ: shokuji: meal)朝食 (ちょうしょく: choushoku: breakfast) |
| 飲 | の（む） | いん | 飲む（のむ: nomu: to drink）, 飲み物（のみもの: nomimono: drink), 飲酒（いんしゅ: inshu: alcohol consumption） |
Additional notes on okurigana: 送（おく）り仮名（がな）
As introduced in Module 7.1, okurigana are kana suffixes added to kanji to indicate verb conjugations, clarifying both meaning and grammatical function. They are essential for distinguishing verb endings and expressing formality and negation. Okurigana allow each of the action verbs below to conjugate into polite forms, marking their kun-readings (Japanese readings):
Further resources
1. Kanji for school-related and everyday concepts: 大, 学, 先, 生, 女, 男
The resource created by おがちゃんねる/OgaChannel provides a detailed guide on writing the kanji characters 大 (big), 学 (study/learn), 先 (previous), 生 (life), 女 (woman) and 男 (man), including explanations of their meanings, formation and usage:
2. Kanji for actions: 見, 行, 食, 飲
The following resource from Koyata Japan Channel explores three iconographically related kanji – 日 (sun), 目 (eye) and 見 (see) – highlighting how 見 is derived from the others:
The resource created by おがちゃんねる/OgaChannel offers a comprehensive guide on writing the kanji characters 行 (go), 食 (eat) and 飲 (drink), with detailed explanations of their meanings, formation and usage. It also covers two additional kanji characters related to actions, but for now, let’s focus solely on the four target kanji characters:
Exercise 1
Are you ready to sharpen your kanji writing skills this week? Download and print the PDF kanji worksheet to start practising and mastering these characters! There’s something timeless and powerful about putting pen to paper – it’s one of the best ways to truly learn kanji!
References
おがちゃんねる/OgaChannel. “[おがちゃん先生の Japanese Kanji #2] 大 学 校 先 生 | Stroke | Usage.” YouTube video, 10:06. February 4, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEjpqzzGQMs.
Koyata Japan Channel. “Koyata’s Kanji Lesson#16: 日, 目, 見る！Kanji is Easy!!.” YouTube video, 3:30. August 8, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96b5hhac8dk.
おがちゃんねる/OgaChannel. “[おがちゃん先生の Japanese Kanji #15] 行 来 帰 食 飲 | Stroke | Useful Expressions.” YouTube video, 9:59. April 8, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEjpqzzGQMs.
