Comments on: 20 Similar-Looking Kanji

By: Damir

Damir — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:52:59 +0000

You switched the readings of the kanji for “thousand”.

It should be “chi, SEN”, not “sen, CHI” (since “SEN” is the on reading).

The fact is that the kun reading of this character is used only in special cases (primarily in proper names), so this probably made you do this mistake.

By: Armand

Armand — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:03:19 +0000

Actually I do struggle with 持つ and 待つ a lot (even just know I can’t remember which one I wrote first, and am not sure which is which ^_^).

I don’t really have problems with 時 though, but I do mix them a bit with 特. That’s when I don’t pay enough attention, because reading carefully enough, I usually remember M.Heisig’s teaching : seeing a cow in a Buddhist temple would somehow be “special” indeed

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.