The Higher kanji
The 124 kanji Higher adds, among them 新しい, 電車, 勉強 and 曜日: what they mean, and how they are read in the words you meet.
Learn
The Higher kanji, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know what the Higher kanji add
Higher students need all 200 kanji: the 76 from Foundation and 124 more. The new ones fill in everyday words you may already know in kana, such as 電車, 新しい, 勉強 and 毎日. Higher reading texts use more of them, so reading them quickly pays off.
Read the kanji of time and the calendar
曜 completes the days of the week (月曜日, 金曜日), and 週 gives 毎週, 今週 and 来週. The parts of the day are 朝, 昼, 晩 and 夜, and the seasons are 春, 夏, 秋 and 冬. 午前 and 午後 mean a.m. and p.m., and 半 means half past: 三時半.
Read the kanji for family
父, 母, 兄, 姉, 弟 and 妹 are your own father, mother, older brother, older sister, younger brother and younger sister. For someone else's family, add さん, with お in front for parents and older brothers and sisters: お父さん (おとうさん), お母さん (おかあさん), お兄さん, but 弟さん. 家族 means family.
Read the kanji in everyday verbs
Many of the Higher kanji are verbs you use all the time: 読む, 書く, 聞く, 話す, 買う, 飲む, 作る, 使う, 帰る and 休む. The kana after them change as the verb changes: 読みます, 読んで, 読んだ. A few keep more kana than you might expect, such as 教える and 終わる.
Read the kanji in adjectives
新しい, 古い, 安い, 長い, 強い, 楽しい and the colours 赤い, 青い and 黒い all use Higher kanji. 多い (many) and 少ない (few) are a pair worth learning together, and 少し means a little. 好き and 有名 are な-adjectives: 好きな 音楽, 有名な 店.
Read the kanji for places
駅, 店, 銀行, 病院, 公園, 図書館 and 映画館 are all written with Higher kanji. 館 means a large building, which is why it ends both library and cinema. 東, 西, 南 and 北 are the points of the compass, as in 東京 and 北海道.
Learn the words with special readings
Some words are read as a whole rather than kanji by kanji: 大人 is おとな, 今年 is ことし, 部屋 is へや, 上手 is じょうず and 下手 is へた. 一日 is ついたち for the first of the month but いちにち for one whole day.
Use the parts of a kanji to guess its meaning
Many kanji share a part, called a radical, that hints at the meaning. 語, 読 and 話 all have 言 on the left, the part for words and speech. 海 and 泳 have three drops of water, and 飲, 飯 and 館 all contain a form of 食.
The Higher kanji key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Radical
- A part shared by many kanji that hints at the meaning, such as the 言 for speech in 語 and 話.
- おくりがな
- The kana after a kanji that finish the word and change with the grammar: 帰ります, 帰って.
- Special reading
- A reading that belongs to the whole word rather than to each kanji, such as 大人 (おとな) or 今年 (ことし).
- Compound
- A word built from two or more kanji whose meanings combine: 電 (electric) and 車 (vehicle) make 電車, a train.
- Chinese-style reading
- The reading most kanji take inside compounds: 新 is しん in 新聞, but あたら in 新しい.
- Japanese reading
- A kanji's native reading, used when it stands alone or with おくりがな: 話 is はな in 話す.
- Stroke count
- The number of strokes in a kanji. Kanji dictionaries are often ordered by it.
- 曜日
- Day of the week. Every day name ends in it, from 月曜日 to 日曜日.
Common mistakes in The Higher kanji
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Mixing up 午 (noon) and 牛 (cow).
In 牛 the upright stroke pokes through the top line; in 午 it does not. You meet 午 in 午前 and 午後, and 牛 in 牛肉.
Confusing 待 (wait) and 持 (hold), which share their right-hand part.
Look at the left side. 持 has the part for a hand, because you hold things in your hand, and 待 has the part for going, because you wait for someone on the way.
Leaving out kana that belong after a kanji, such as 新い for 新しい or 教る for 教える.
Learn each word with all its kana: 新しい, 楽しい, 少ない, 教える, 終わる. The kanji gives the meaning, and the kana finish the word.
Reading a special word kanji by kanji, such as だいじん for 大人 or ぶや for 部屋.
These words are read as a whole: 大人 is おとな, 部屋 is へや and 今年 is ことし. Keep a list of them and test yourself.
Using 父 and 母 for someone else's parents.
父 and 母 are for your own parents when you talk about them to others. For a friend's parents, use お父さん and お母さん.
Practice
Try a The Higher kanji question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
How is 会社 read?
- あいしゃ
- かいじゃ
- かいしゃ
- あいやしろ
Show the answer and the working
Answer: かいしゃ
会社 (company) is かいしゃ.
- 会 is かい.
- 社 is しゃ.
- So かいしゃ.