Similar-Looking Kanji Learners Mix Up: 未 and 末, 問 and 間
Hiroki Obara · Developer
In 2016, the Japanese government’s Council for Cultural Affairs published guidelines on the shapes of the Jōyō kanji (in Japanese). They say that most small differences in handwritten kanji do not make a character right or wrong. They then give examples where a small difference does turn one character into another: 末 and 未, 士 and 土, and 大, 太 and 犬.
Whether a stroke ends with a hook or a stop usually doesn’t matter. But pairs that differ in the length of a line or the position of a dot have to be kept apart. This post goes through kanji that learners often confuse, and what to look at to tell them apart.
未 and 末: which horizontal line is longer
未 and 末 both have five strokes. The only difference is which of the two horizontal lines is longer.
| Kanji | Top line | Bottom line | Readings and examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 未 | short | long | ミ, “not yet” (未来 future) |
| 末 | long | short | マツ, すえ, “end” (週末 weekend) |
末 is usually explained as a tree, 木, with a long line drawn across its top to mark the tip, the “end.” If the top line reaches out further, it is 末; if not, it is 未.
土 and 士: the same idea
土 (earth) and 士 (samurai, a man of a profession) are another pair where the line lengths are reversed. 土 has the longer line at the bottom, 士 at the top. As with 未 and 末, look at which line is longer. 士 appears in words such as 武士 (warrior) and 博士 (doctor, PhD).
人, 入 and 八
人 (person), 入 (enter) and 八 (eight) are each two strokes. In 人, the left stroke is the long one and the right stroke leans against it. In 入, it is the other way round: the right stroke is the long one. In 八, the two strokes don’t touch. When you write 入, check which stroke stands taller.
大, 太 and 犬: is there a dot, and where
大 (big), 太 (thick) and 犬 (dog) differ in whether there is a dot and where it goes. 大 has none. 太 has a dot at the bottom, between the two sweeping strokes. 犬 has a dot at the upper right.
The guidelines give these three as an example of adding or moving a dot to make a different character. The position of the dot is not a matter of style. It is what tells the characters apart.
問, 間 and 聞: what is inside the gate
問, 間 and 聞 all put something inside 門 (gate).
| Kanji | Inside | A way to remember it |
|---|---|---|
| 間 | 日 sun | Sunlight through a gap in the gate. 時間 time |
| 聞 | 耳 ear | You hear with your ear. 聞く to hear |
| 問 | 口 mouth | You ask with your mouth. 問題 question, problem |
門 itself is a word too. Since the meaning of the inner part matches the meaning of the kanji, this group is easier to remember through meaning.
待, 持 and 時: a different left side
待 (wait), 持 (hold) and 時 (time) all have 寺 on the right. What differs is the radical on the left.
- 待: the “going” radical 彳. To wait for someone.
- 持: the hand radical 扌. You hold things in your hand.
- 時: the sun radical 日. Time is measured by the sun.
Because the right side is the same, it is easy to mix them up if you only look at the overall shape. What each radical means is covered in Learning Kanji by Radicals.
Other pairs worth a look
- 午 (noon) and 牛 (cow): the vertical line sticks out at the top only in 牛.
- 右 (right) and 石 (stone): the top of 石 is a flat line; 右 starts with a sweeping stroke that crosses a horizontal one.
- 日, 目 and 白: 日 has one line inside, 目 has two, and 白 is 日 with a short stroke on top.
- 休 (rest) and 体 (body): both have the person radical; 休 has 木 on the right, 体 has 本.
Learning by shape or by meaning
Similar kanji can be split into two kinds. The first kind swaps one part for another, like 問, 間 and 聞, or 待, 持 and 時. These are best learned through meaning, because the part that differs has a reason: an ear for hearing, a hand for holding.
The second kind differs in line length or dot position, like 未 and 末, 土 and 士, or 大, 太 and 犬. Meaning doesn’t help much in recalling the shape, so one approach is to learn the shape together with one common word. Decide on something like “the 末 in 週末 has the long line on top,” and you have a place to go back to when you are unsure.
Why writing helps
When you read, a rough sense of the character is often enough, and the context fills in the rest. Many people would read 末来 as 未来 without noticing. Writing is different. Your hand has to decide whether the top line is long or short.
It is sometimes said that the difference between similar kanji is learned through writing more than reading. Look at the reading only, and write the kanji without looking at anything. Where you hesitate is exactly the place you need to tell apart.
Practising similar kanji in KanjiN
KanjiN is a kanji app for iPhone and iPad where you answer by handwriting. Instead of tapping a choice, you write on the screen with a finger or stylus.
The Writing Drill is good for similar kanji. You write the kanji for a reading without seeing it, so the places where you hesitate come out as they are. For pairs with different radicals, Radical Sort has you sort kanji into radical groups. In the Neat Writing Drill, you trace the strokes in order to learn the shape, and get a score comparing your writing with the model.
To focus on the pairs you confuse, use My Data. You make a folder and add your own questions with an example sentence, the answer kanji and the reading in hiragana. When you type kanji into the sentence, the app offers them as candidates for the answer. Make questions from sentences containing the kanji you mixed up, such as 週末に出かける or 未来の話, and you can choose that folder in the drill settings.
Besides school grades 1 to 6 and Kanken levels 10 to 5, you can practise JLPT N5 to N3 kanji. Today’s Drill, Today’s Challenge and the 10-question Skill Check are free. A one-time purchase, Unlock Everything, opens every drill, with no ads and no subscription. The first time you use it, the app downloads what it needs to read handwriting, so you need an internet connection then.
How to start is in Getting Started with KanjiN, and a comparison with other ways of studying is in KanjiN vs Other Ways to Practice Kanji.
