Kanji 本 — "Book"
Here is what 本 means, how it is read, what it is built from, and a story that makes "Book" stick.
Also means: Origin, Real
How it is read
ほん
the reading borrowed from Chinese — usually appears in compound words
もと
the native Japanese reading — usually appears when the kanji stands alone
How to remember it
Kanji are not random strokes. Learn the parts and the whole becomes easy. Put the parts together into one picture. The stranger it is, the harder it is to forget.
One Tree was cut down to be made into a Book!
- ⼀ One
A single stroke counts as the number One, see? Japanese is that simple!
- 木 Tree
The shape of a Tree with branches at the top and a trunk in the middle.
Words that use 本
12 of 36 words in the app that contain this kanji — the most common ones first.
- 本 ほん book
- 本当 ほんとう / ほんと really, true
- 日本 にっぽん / にほん Japan
- 本気 ほんき seriousness, truth, sanctity
- 本人 ほんにん the person himself, person in question
- 本物 ほんもの genuine article, the real thing
- 本日 ほんじつ today (formal/written)
- 本部 ほんぶ headquarters
- 日本語 にほんご the Japanese language
- 本来 ほんらい essentially, naturally, by nature
- 基本 きほん basic, basis
- 本社 ほんしゃ head office
Want 本 to still be there next month?
Reading it once is not remembering it. The app brings each kanji back right before you would have forgotten it.
