Recognize 目 in everyday Japanese and connect its meanings, eye and order, with whole words in context.

The idea

Compare 目（め） and 目的（もくてき） in the table: a character can have different readings in different words. 目 has 5 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
目めeye
目的もくてきpurpose; goal
目薬めぐすりeye drops
二つ目ふたつめthe second one
目の前めのまえright in front of one’s eyes

Examples

  • 猫ねこは目めが大おおきいです。The cat has big eyes.
  • 目めが少すこし痛いたいです。My eyes hurt a little.
  • 目薬めぐすりをときどき使つかいます。I sometimes use eye drops.
  • 二ふたつ目めの駅えきで降おります。I get off at the second station.
  • 私わたしの目めの前まえに犬いぬがいます。There is a dog right in front of me.
  • この旅行りょこうの目的もくてきは日本語にほんごの勉強べんきょうです。The purpose of this trip is to study Japanese.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

目 is め in 目薬 and in the ordinal 二つ目, but もく in 目的. Compare 目 with 日: 目 has two horizontal lines inside, while 日 has one.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 目 in hiragana.

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    め

    目 is read め; the complete word means eye.

  2. Write the reading of 目的 in hiragana.

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    もくてき

    目的 is read もくてき; the complete word means purpose; goal.

  3. Fill in the missing kanji: ＿薬（めぐすり）.

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    目

    目 completes 目薬, read めぐすり; the complete word means eye drops.

Use it today

Cover the table and write 目 from memory. Read 目 and 目的 aloud, then make a sentence and check its meaning against the examples.