So you think you understand Japanese writing?

We see.

We use Kanji in Japan existentially. All Kanji is borrowed from Chinese.

Since we did this, Kanji characters may have more than one pronounce.

　　　　　　　　　　　　Ｋａｎｊｉ　漢字　− is used in most japanese words

Ｆｏｒ　ｅｘａｍｐｌｅ： The kanji for big is: 大. This may be pronounce two ways:

　　　　　　　　　　　　Chinese way (called the on reading): dai or だい.

　　　　　　　　　　　　Japanese way (called kun reading): oo or おお.

　　　　　　　　　　　　The readiing depens on what combonation of other kanji you use:

　　　　　　　　　　　　大学, pronounced daigaku uses the kanji 大 dai (big) and 学 gaku (learning).

　　　　　　　　　　　　Because the two kanji are used together the on reading forms the sounds.

　　　　　　　　　　　　Incidently, 大学　means University.

　　　　　　　　　　　　大きい, pronounced ookii uses just the kanji 大, (big).

　　　　　　　　　　　　Because the kanji is by itself it will just be pronounced oo or おお.

　　　　　　　　　　　　This is the kun reading. 大きい is the adjective for large or big.

Think you got it, hotshot???