Comments on: 20 Similar-Looking Kanji

By: Ash

Ash — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:30:20 +0000

Just quickly adding the small difference between:

待つ Matsu – To wait　
持つ Motsu – To have
時 Toki, Ji – Time, Hour

Once you learn the radicals the small differences make sense. I recognise the difference by remembering the radicals for Man/Going Man, Hand, and Day. (Three basic Kanji a beginner should already know)

The first (待つ) contains the radical for a going man 「(人)　with a stroke is like the man is moving], so I know it has to do with movement, or the lack of. The second (持つ) contains the radical for a hand　(手), so I remember it’s to possess, or hold. The third (時)　contains the sun (日), so since the sun dictates time, it’s easy~

By: herman

herman — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:17:02 +0000

My favorite example is 拾 and 捨. These are really similar and especially troublesome because the first means “pick up” and the second “throw away” so the meanings are literally opposite.

職 , 識 and 織: also confusing due to similar readings.

By: snip

snip — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:58:10 +0000

I don’t know all kanji yet, but I’ve come across some pretty similar ones already. These are the ones that come to mind:

従 and 徒 look very similar and have similar meanings.
験 and 検 look sort of similar and mean something very similar.
感 and 惑 look quite similar but mean something completely different.