book, present, main, origin
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.
本当に、ちょっと座りなよ。
Hontou ni, chotto suwarina yo.
Seriously, sit down for a bit.
ブラジル出身で、日本に住んで六ヶ月です。
Burajiru shusshin de, Nihon ni sunde roku kagetsu desu.
Originally from Brazil, he's been living in Japan for six months.
ルーカス、聞いて。明日の夜、本当に落語をやるんだ。本物のお客さんの前で、お茶屋さんで。
Rūkasu, kiite. Ashita no yoru, hontou ni rakugo wo yarun da. Honmono no okyakusan no mae de, ochayasan de.
Lucas, guess what. Tomorrow night I'm performing for real. Rakugo, for an actual audience, at a tea house.
大丈夫、大丈夫。日本語、上手になりましたね。
Daijoubu, daijoubu. Nihongo, jouzu ni narimashita ne.
It's alright, it's alright. Your Japanese has gotten better, huh.
え？！本当ですか？ありがとうございます！
E?! Hontou desu ka? Arigatou gozaimasu!
What?! Really? Thank you so much!
その会館は、小さな本屋の裏に隠れています。
Sono kaikan wa, chiisana honya no ura ni kakurete imasu.
The hall is tucked away, behind a small bookstore.
実は、料理にすごく本気なんだ。前から教室に通ってて。
Jitsu wa, ryouri ni sugoku honki nan da. Mae kara kyoushitsu ni kayottete.
I'm actually really serious about cooking. Like, I've been taking classes for a while.
もう一本しか残ってないですけど、頑丈なやつです。
Mou ippon shika nokottenai desu kedo, ganjou na yatsu desu.
Only one left, but it's a strong one.
新米、松茸、それから日本酒を少し。
Shinmai, matsutake, sorekara nihonshu wo sukoshi.
New rice, matsutake, and a splash of sake.
Readings and meanings: KANJIDIC2 · Decomposition: KRADFILE · Both from Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, CC BY-SA 4.0 · data from 2026-10-22 · Strokes: KanjiVG, Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0