matter, thing, fact, business
Came from Chinese. It usually shows up when the kanji is joined to another, forming a compound word.
It is Japanese. It usually shows up when the kanji stands alone or is followed by hiragana.
The order matters: it is what makes handwriting come out legible, and it is how dictionaries index the character.
Visual decomposition, for recognising and comparing — not always the character's origin.
Where it appears is highlighted — the translation doesn't always make that visible.
仕事では、いつも二十四時間表記を使う。
Shigoto dewa, itsumo nijuuyo-jikan hyouki o tsukau.
At work, we always use the 24-hour clock.
なんとか、ルーカスは無事に終わらせることができました。
Nantoka, Rūkasu wa buji ni owaraseru koto ga dekimashita.
Somehow, he managed to finish.
ここでは、一分が大事だ。入れ、もう始まってるぞ。
Koko dewa, ippun ga daiji da. Haire, mou hajimatteru zo.
Here, one minute counts. Get in, the shift already started.
いえいえ、無事でよかったです！
Ie ie, buji de yokatta desu!
Oh, please, I'm just glad everything turned out fine!
こうして、感謝の食事は、二人の新しい習慣の言い訳になったのでした。
Koushite, kansha no shokuji wa, futari no atarashii shuukan no iiwake ni natta no deshita.
And so, the thank-you dinner became an excuse for a new habit of theirs.
五時間ぐらい寝てます…仕事中に、すごく早く食べます。
Gojikan gurai netemasu... shigotochuu ni, sugoku hayaku tabemasu.
I sleep about five hours... and I eat really fast, in the middle of work.
Readings and meanings: KANJIDIC2 · Decomposition: KRADFILE · Both from Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, CC BY-SA 4.0 · data from 2026-09-07 · Strokes: KanjiVG, Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0