electricity
Came from Chinese. It usually shows up when the kanji is joined to another, forming a compound word.
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.
この電車を逃したら、明日までホームで鳩になるよ!
Kono densha o nogashitara, ashita made hoomu de hato ni naru yo!
If I miss this train, I'm turning into a pigeon on this platform till tomorrow!
みんな注目!終電は二十三時四十分発だ。
Minna chuumoku! Shuuden wa nijuusan-ji yonjuppun hatsu da.
Attention, everyone! The last train leaves at twenty-three forty.
停電に備えて、携帯をしっかり充電しておくのもいいよ。
Teiden ni sonaete, keitai wo shikkari juuden shite oku no mo ii yo.
It's also good to charge your phone all the way, in case the power goes out.
停電に備えて、携帯をしっかり充電しておくのもいいよ。
Teiden ni sonaete, keitai wo shikkari juuden shite oku no mo ii yo.
It's also good to charge your phone all the way, in case the power goes out.
大きい電池は売り切れなんですけど、小さいのはまだありますよ。
Ookii denchi wa urikire nan desu kedo, chiisai no wa mada arimasu yo.
We're out of the big batteries, but I still have the small ones.
一人では落ち着けなくて、タナカに電話をかけました。
Hitori de wa ochitsukenakute, Tanaka ni denwa wo kakemashita.
Unable to calm himself down alone, he called Tanaka.
勝手に電源が切れるし、バッテリーも全然もたないの。近いうちに完全に壊れそうだわ。
Katte ni dengen ga kireru shi, batterii mo zenzen motanai no. Chikai uchi ni kanzen ni kowaresou da wa.
It turns off on its own, the battery doesn't last at all. I think it's going to die completely one of these days.
そして、二人は近くの電気屋さんへ向かいました。そこでは大きなテレビがニュースを流していました。
Soshite, futari wa chikaku no denkiyasan e mukaimashita. Soko de wa ookina terebi ga nyuusu wo nagashite imashita.
And the two of them headed to the electronics store nearby, where a big TV was playing the news.
電話はつながらず、そのまま留守番電話になりました。
Denwa wa tsunagarazu, sono mama rusuban denwa ni narimashita.
The call didn't even go through — it went straight to voicemail.
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