Lesson 19 of 28
Kanji Unit 19 — the mouth that asks and the shell that pays
about 9 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Recognise 貝 inside a character and expect money or people employed.
- Read 質問 and 問題 — the words for a question and a problem.
Words this lesson teaches
- 味
- taste, flavour — 意味, meaning
- 品
- goods, an article
- 問
- ask — 質問, 問題
- 員
- a member of staff — 店員, 会社員
- 貸
- lend — the other side of 借
- 質
- quality; a pledge — 質問
- 計
- measure, plan — 時計, 計画
- 試
- try, test — 試験
- 題
- a topic, a title — 問題, 宿題
What it explains
質問 and 問題 share a character and are not the same word
質問 is a question you ask. 問題 is a problem, or a question on an exam paper. Both contain 問 and neither can stand in for the other: 「質問が あります」 means I have a question, and 「問題が あります」 means there is a problem. Two characters sharing one is the usual case in Japanese, and telling the pair apart is what reading actually consists of.
計 turns up in a clock
時計 is time-measure, a clock — and the learner has been saying とけい since Foundations 5. 計画 is measure-picture, a plan, using 画 from the last unit. 試験 is test-examine, an exam, and 験 arrives in unit 28. Three useful words, each half-built from characters already in hand, which is what the second half of a kanji course feels like.
The scene itself is in the app.
Lesson one of this track is free to read in full. From lesson two on, the story, the audio and the review are part of a free account.