Recognize 気 in everyday Japanese and connect its meanings, feelings, energy and weather, with whole words in context.

The idea

Compare 元気（げんき） and 天気（てんき） in the table: a character can have different readings in different words. 気 has 6 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
元気げんきwell; energetic
天気てんきweather
気持ちきもちfeeling
人気にんきpopularity
病気びょうきillness

Examples

  • 先生せんせい、お元気げんきですか。Teacher, how are you?
  • 今日きょうは天気てんきがいいです。The weather is nice today.
  • 電気でんきを消けしてください。Please turn off the light.
  • この店みせは人気にんきがあります。This shop is popular.
  • 風かぜが気持きもちいいです。The breeze feels nice.
  • 病気びょうきですから、家いえで休やすみます。I am ill, so I rest at home.

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

Watch out

気 often reads き, but its meaning depends on the whole word: 元気 is being well, 天気 is weather, and 人気 is popularity. Do not translate every 気 as a feeling.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 元気 in hiragana.

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    げんき

    元気 is read げんき; the complete word means well; energetic.

  2. Write the reading of 天気 in hiragana.

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    てんき

    天気 is read てんき; the complete word means weather.

  3. Fill in the missing kanji: ＿持ち（きもち）.

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    気

    気 completes 気持ち, read きもち; the complete word means feeling.

Use it today

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