interval, space
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.
お店に入った瞬間、ケンタはもうどこに行くか分かっていました。
Omise ni haitta shunkan, Kenta wa mou doko ni iku ka wakatte imashita.
The moment they walked in, Kenta already knew where to go.
時間は、いつも七時です。
Jikan wa, itsumo shichi-ji desu.
The time is always seven in the morning.
ふふ、ありがとう。でも、友達の間では「うまい！」って言いますよ。
Fufu, arigatou. Demo, tomodachi no aida dewa "umai!" tte iimasu yo.
Haha, thanks. But among friends, we say "so good"!
時々、丁寧な言葉とあまり丁寧じゃない言葉を間違えることでも有名になっています。
Tokidoki, teinei na kotoba to amari teinei ja nai kotoba o machigaeru koto demo yuumei ni natte imasu.
And, without meaning to, he's also becoming known for mixing up polite words with some not-so-polite ones.
だいたい十時半から、十五分間だよ。
Daitai juu-ji han kara, juugofun-kan da yo.
Usually around ten thirty, for fifteen minutes.
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