Approximately 80 basic kanji for JLPT N5 — numbers, days, common nouns and verbs
Can read and write approximately 80 basic kanji
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
一、二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九、十
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
私は学生です。
I am a student.
山が大きいです。
The mountain is big.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Kanji are characters borrowed from Chinese. Each has on'yomi (Chinese-derived reading, used in compound words) and kun'yomi (native Japanese reading, used when the kanji stands alone or with okurigana). JLPT N5 requires ~80 kanji.
| Kanji | Meaning | On'yomi | Kun'yomi | Example word |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | one | イチ | ひと(つ) | 一つ (one thing) |
| 日 | day/sun | ニチ, ジツ | ひ, か | 日曜日 (Sunday) |
| 人 | person | ジン, ニン | ひと | 日本人 (Japanese person) |
| 大 | big | ダイ | おお(きい) | 大きい (big) |
| 学 | study | ガク | まな(ぶ) | 学生 (student) |
| 食 | eat | ショク | た(べる) | 食べる (to eat) |
Key categories: Numbers (一〜十, 百, 千, 万), Time (年, 月, 日, 時, 分, 半, 今, 先, 来, 毎), People (人, 子, 女, 男, 友), Nature (山, 川, 天, 気, 花, 雨), Actions (行, 来, 見, 食, 飲, 読, 書, 聞, 話, 買, 入, 出), School (学, 校, 生, 先), Places (国, 店, 駅).
Tip: Many kanji are composed of radicals — recurring building blocks. 日(sun), 月(moon), 木(tree), 水(water) are both kanji and common radicals.
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice Exercises一、二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九、十
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
The number kanji 1-10 — among the first to learn
私は学生です。
I am a student.
私(わたし, I) + 学生(がくせい, student) — 学 uses on'yomi ガク in this compound
山が大きいです。
The mountain is big.
山(やま, mountain) uses kun'yomi; 大きい(おおきい, big) also uses kun'yomi with okurigana きい
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises