絵 (え): General term for any drawn image—doodles, comics, diagrams—basically anything drawn rather than photographed.

絵画 (かいが): Formal / artistic term for paintings or artworks meant for display, e.g. in galleries or museums.

“Let me take you to see that famous painting!”
“Eh?”
“I said, let me take you to see that famous painting!”
“Eh?”

A picture is a single frame of a motion-picture movie.

The word "picture", similarly, is a single kana in the word "movie".

えいが = Movie
え = Picture

え as in Ukiyo-e, the famous Japanese woodcuts.

Emoji is a Japanese word, with e meaning picture and moji meaning something like letters/characters of words.

What do you think of my picture?
"eh" It's kind of bad.

'E' Picture is worth a thousand words!

"Ehhhhhh, what a great picture!"

Originally we (ゑ) but the w- semivowel was dropped some time ago and so it is now え

To lay out a keiKAKU (keikaku means plan 😉) you need to write/draw (kaku).

If you're a GAKUsei (student) you need to KAKU (write) a lot

"ka-ku" is the sound of a pen clicking, getting ready to write.

Kaku from One piece had a long nose that could be used for drawing or writing

Can you (かく) a (べつ), PARTICULAR reason?

I like to kaku (write) the haiku (poem) ✍️

I KA-n write a hai-KU

I kaku (write) with my Kakuno pen

Sounds a little like "Ahoy!" something you'd hear on the blue sea.

Danganronpa's　あさひな　あおい (asahina aoi) likes swimming in the blue water

aoi 'Owwie, that blue bruise hurts'

Naruto's one of the most popular openings "Blue bird" mentions "Aoi aoi ano sora"

When you run headfirst into a stop sign, you say "あおい", but stop signs are red, so think of a blue stop sign instead.

Aoi Kanzaki from Demon Slayer has blue eyes and a blue butterfly on her hair.

Think of the lyrics from the song Blue Bird:
aoi, aoi ano sora - that blue, blue sky.

Ao Oni (the game) is about a blue demon

Under the blue sky, oil(aoi) powers cars and takes us high!

Linguistic note: Japanese does not traditionally have any diphthongs (or triphthongs). As an example, あおい is pronounced with all of its vowels distinct (monophthongs) instead of, for example, あ "flowing" into お. This is called vowel hiatus.

Of course, if you're speaking quickly (*enough), none of this really matters and you're free to beat me (physically) for ever mentioning this.

English speakers love Eggo (eigo) waffles

In America they speak English and their animal is an Eagle (eigo)

In England they love EIG On toast

I speak english, and have a bit of an ego (eigo)

Where are you going on vacation?
H-ey, go-ing to England.
They speak English there.

大きな & 小さな mean the same thing as 大きい & 小さい, respectively. The ~な versions just have a more literary or quaint feel, and are also often preferred for describing concepts.

There is no situation where 大きな / 小さな can be used that it would be incorrect to use 大きい / 小さい instead, but the ~な forms have restricted use and are not able to replace the ~い versions in many cases. As a learner, it's good to note that these forms exist, but it's safe to continue to use only 大きい / 小さい until you get a sense for what situations 大きな / 小さな are preferred in.

A few idiomatic expressions / set phrases:

器が大きい — has great human capacity; generous, tolerant, capable, reliable. (Strong compliment)
態度が大きい — arrogant, rude, overbearing attitude; doesn't know their place. (Negative)
気が大きい — easygoing, generous; not bothered by small things. (Positive)

Ooki that's big!

ookii - that great, big oak-tree is so large!

Me: "...Do you have anything smaller?"

Alaskan Farmer: "Nope."

Me: "OKI Dokey"

L'ooki' there!!!(lookie there) Thats one big thingamajig!

*read in flustered tone* NO, I'M NOT OKAY おおきい ! I'VE GOT SO MANY *BIG* DECISIONS TO MAKE AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO CHOOSE!

It is as large as an oak tree. It's OAKY

For anyone that's read the manga Kingdom, the great General Ou Ki was a huge guy.

Okie dokie that's big

For everyone who plays Zelda, おおきい reminds me of k(OKI)ri forest which houses the great big deku tree

Let's listen(kikou) to this lecture on the CLIMATE.

Your *voice* echoes (eこえs) in this room

Leonard Cohen (KOE) had a lovely voice.
(He is the man who wrote Hallelujah)

I can hear your KOE at the KOUEN

This might only work for Aussies (and some Brits by extension) but it makes me think of “Cooee,” a call Australian Aborigines would make to attract attention. So, you use your KOE to cooee.

There is a very well known anime/manga:
Koe no katachi (literally "shape of a voice")

The kanji just looks like a megaphone which makes your voice louder

The word "koe" (声) sounds like part of the name "Cohen", making it easy to associate.

Imagine Sacha Baron Cohen switching between voices in his characters, tying the sound of "koe" to its meaning "voice."

顔 (かお) is the everyday word for "face", covering the physical face, expressions, identity, and social or metaphorical meaning. It's natural in conversation and appears in idioms like 顔が売れる or 顔を立てる.

顔面 (がんめん) refers more specifically to the face as a physical surface or anatomical area, often in medical or descriptive contexts, like 顔面にボールが当たった.

In short, 顔 is broad, social, and expressive, while 顔面 is physical, objective, and technical.

Source: [ja.hinative.com]

Pitch accent: か/お
Source: [takoboto.jp]

(カオ) ちゃん = face chan! (´・ω・｀)ノ

かお = face
えがお = smiling face

I put them K.O. (かお) by punching to their face.

The cow (かお) had a human *face*! What?

KAOmojis ! (｡•́ ̫ •̀｡) face emojis

I think Morning glories 朝顔 are so beautiful! They're the morning's 朝 face 顔

家 can be read two main ways:

いえ is closer to house. Kind of refers more to the building itself
うち is usually translated as home. Includes the deeper connections to family and personal history inside the building.

家(いえ) is more used for the house in the literal sense - physical walls and objects that make up your house.

Use お家 when talking to someone else about THEIR home. If that person is above your station (like your boss) you should use お宅.

For your own home use うち.

いえ generally means "my house, the building" while "うち" is "my home, where I live".

There are many types of HOUSE styles, I.E. (いえ) cottage or Victorian.

IkEa sells things for home 家 /いえ.
"I" before "E"

Yay(Ie), im home after a long day

Freind: "Wow! You're house is so pretty- the paint job is so well done!"

Me: "#Ie! Ie! (Which means no and sounds like "Iye") That's not true."

I love being at home, these four walls are my empire so when I get back in my house I say "YE!(いえ) Here I am!"

Xを聞く: Listen to X
Xに聞く: Ask to X

目 (め) で 見る (みる、1)
耳 (みみ) で 聞く、聴く (きく、0)
鼻 (はな) で 嗅ぐ (かぐ、0)
口 (くち) で 話す (はなす、2)
手 (て) で 触る (さわる、0)

聞く is a general purpose verb that means to hear, to listen.
It also has a more specific homophone: 聴く, meaning to listen paying attention (for example to music, to a teacher etc).
However using 聞く is always correct.

The honorific version (尊敬語) of 聞く is お聞きになる.
Note that you conjugate なる. E.g. お聞きになりました.

As with all 尊敬語, it's used to elevate another person's actions, never your own.

Listen or I kicku you!

You listen to the beat of the kick (kiku) drum in a song.

What do you do when someone speak-u? Kiku!

I like to listen to Kikuo! (vocaloid producer)

Sound passes through the gate of the ear (referring to the gate radical of the kanji)

Kanji looks like earbuds (for listening)

きki's hearing is so good that she has to unconjugate herself。

A few expressions (sense 3.):

怒りを買う — "to rouse anger, to provoke wrath, to offend"
ひんしゅくを買う — "to be frowned on, to invite frowns of disapproval, to displease (people)"
反感を買う — "to antagonize, to provoke antipathy"
恨みを買う — "to incur someone's enmity"
歓心を買う — "to win favour, to win favor"

Why buy the kau if you can get the milk for free

かう sounds like kaufen (to buy something) in German.

Kau (Can) you buy this?

I want to buy that! Let me COUnt (kau) my money!

a cash cow (かう) can buy anything!

A farmer buying a cow (ka-u かう) 🐄

kanji: the top half looks like a note you would use to pay with, the bottom is a chinese character for "tool", so it's like you're paying for the item with the money

Why would you want to buy a cow (kau)?

Call (かう) me when you BUY that thing.

Want to buy kau (cow)

This is specifically a lecture in an educational setting, like to college students. For a broader audience (as in, "he gave a lecture at the community center about the importance of heart health"), use 講演.

10 Korgi's attended my KOUGI.

bring coffee to 講義 ( こうぎ)。

I got a lecture by a Corgi about my ☕ consumption. );

I lectured the CORGI after he pooped where he shouldn't

He will give his 講義 (kougi) at the next 会議 (kaigi).

Examples for sense 3. and 4. — ここ＋ 期間 (period/interval).
Context and verb tense determine whether it's past or future.

Future: ここ数日、寒い日が続くでしょう = "The weather will remain cold for several days".
Past / up to now: ここ数日、あまり寝ていない = "These past few days, I haven't slept much".

"Come, come here!"

I want to have a hot 'coco' here, in this place

There is a coconut here!

The koko feature prominently in Sonic Frontiers, and the main theme of that game is "I'm here."

The first こ denotes proximity (close to the speaker in this case). The second こindicates that we are discussing a place (rather than a person).

Other examples are そこ (a place further than ここ but still nearby), あそこ (a place way over there), and どこ (where?).

I went up north and upon arriving there I said "Ah! So cold" (あそこ)

You ask for directions and someone points where to go, so you say, "ah so k/go *there*?"

“As I” wake-up in the (morning), the first thing I think of is coffee.

Imagine waking up next to ASA Mitaka every MORNING.

I cannot drink "Asahi"「ASA あさ」beer in the *𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴* for *𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁*.

あさ is just the beginning of あさごはん (breakfast) (morning meal)

I think Morning glories 朝顔 are so beautiful! They're the morning's 朝 face 顔

Also written as: 絜

Levels of formality from most formal to least:

みょうにち
あした
あす

みょうにち is a more formal version of あす, which is more formal than あした. あす also has the meaning of "close future"

The everyday pronunciation of 明日.

H(asta) la vista. See ya tomorrow.

Ah shi*, ah! I forgot I have that appointment tomorrow.

The kanji is bright (a sun and a moon) and sun/day. So you have today's sun, then a moon, then another sun-> that's tomorrow

It'll be a brighter 明 day 日 *tomorrow*

H(ashta) mañana!

There's an anime called ashita no joe , you can remember the word from the title

There's today 日, night 月, and the day after 日, is tomorrow

___________________あした
"I'll clean out the ash tomorrow."

There is the sun 日 and the moon 月 which represent today. And there is another sun 日 which is tomorrow.

After today's sun (日) has set and the moon (月) has risen, a bright (明) new day (日) will await: tomorrow!

Looks like Ta showing A and Shi the sun in the morning

Tomorrow is a bright【明】er day【日】, like in those song lyrics.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away and A SHEET I あした borrow will be returned Tomorrow

This verb will conjugate to 行って in て form

Ick! (IKU)
How I (an introvert) respond when someone asks if I want to go out

I (い) coo(く)k something to take TO GO.

I(い) coo(く)k something for us when you visit me

It’s (い) cool (く) to go fun places

Note: When you turn 高い into the noun 高さ, it practically never means "expensive" by itself.

With 高い, the adjective carries multiple senses (high / tall / expensive), and context disambiguates.
With 高さ, that ambiguity is gone: the noun just means "degree / level / height", and the semantic load shifts to the noun it attaches to.
To express "expensiveness", you therefore need something like 値段の高さ (値段 = "price").

For example, このシャツの高さ refers to the shirt's physical measurements, not its price.

You can confirm this by checking the dictionary definition of 高さ, its example sentences, and most importantly—how natives actually use it.

This is the very tall kai

高 looks like a building, which tend to be tall

高 looks like a tall house with a big garage. You bought this expensive house so people would TALK HIGH (Takai) about you.

I'll have tall KAI tea to go. $15?? It's expensive!

TAKAEV (the president of Kazakhstan) is tall.

TAAAA kaiiii
Tall Kai

Sounds similar to “too high”. As in: a structure or person = tall. A price = expensive. A sound = shrill. The image reminds me of several different things: 1. a tall building. 2. a rock cairn that won’t balance if it’s too high. 3. A pot with a lid that won’t close because the items in the pot are too high, which also reminds me of “put a lid on it.” (for something that is too high pitched or shrill).

It sounds somewhat like Spanish.
E(い) ta (た) ca(かい)ro.

Means both "tall" and "expensive"?
Well, prices are steep.

A tall building.

扉 refers to a hinged door
戸 refers to a sliding door (like the traditional Japanese doors)
ドア can refer to any number of styles of door.

Its usually for a type of door that can slide TO and fro :)

I stubbed my toe (と) when I walked through the door

TOk TOk, can i come in?

For sense 2. reference 大学寮
For sense 3. reference 四書

Universities are big, and the word for university in Japanese is literally “Big” (大) “School” (学).

Every day I go to (DA I GA KU)

Staying up all night to study in university makes gaku(Sei's) want to die (dai)