song, sing
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.
お気に入りのドラマの主題歌を——ドラマチックなポーズ付きで。
Oki ni iri no dorama no shudaika o—— doramachikku na poozu-tsuki de.
The theme song of his favorite soap opera — complete with a dramatic pose.
でも、みんなが帰った後、彼も歌うという噂です。
Demo, minna ga kaetta ato, kare mo utau to iu uwasa desu.
But they say that after everyone leaves, he sings too.
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