Day 2 — 月 (moon, month)

Days 1-10

R-report

Day 2 — 月 (moon, month)

How does one simple character mean both the moon in the sky and the idea of a month in everyday Japanese?

Meet the 月: 月

The character 月 primarily means “moon” and, by extension, “month.” Visually it looks like a rounded rectangle with inner strokes suggesting a crescent; it is a very common kanji used in words for days of the week, months, and time periods. Learner takeaway: think of 月 as the moon (tsuki) when you see it alone; in compounds it often uses its on-yomi readings (getsu / gatsu) to mean month or to form words like Monday (月曜日) or January (一月).

Readings, stroke notes, and writing tips

• 1) 月 — つき (tsuki) — moon. Example: 今夜は月がきれいです。(こんやはつきがきれいです。Kon'ya wa tsuki ga kirei desu.) — The moon is beautiful tonight.

• 1) 月曜日 — げつようび (getsuyōbi) — Monday. Example: 月曜日に学校があります。(げつようびにがっこうがあります。Getsuyōbi ni gakkō ga arimasu.) — I have school on Monday.

• 1) 今月 — こんげつ (kongetsu) — this month. Example: 今月は忙しいです。(こんげつはいそがしいです。Kongetsu wa isogashii desu.) — I'm busy this month.

• 1) 来月 — らいげつ (raigetsu) — next month. Example: 来月、旅行に行きます。(らいげつ、りょこうにいきます。Raigetsu, ryokō ni ikimasu.) — I'm going on a trip next month.

• 1) 一月 — いちがつ (ichigatsu) — January. Example: 一月は寒いです。(いちがつはさむいです。Ichigatsu wa samui desu.) — January is cold.