Recognize 天 in 天気 and 天の川; learn the whole words and use them in everyday sentences.

The idea

天 has 4 strokes; follow the order in the linked KanjiVG diagram. Read 天気 as てんき and 天の川 as あまのがわ. Learn each reading together with the whole word and its meaning.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
天気てんきweather
天の川あまのがわMilky Way
晴天せいてんclear weather
天てんheaven; sky

Examples

  • 今日きょうは天気てんきがいいです。The weather is nice today.
  • 明日あしたの天気てんきは雨あめです。Tomorrow’s weather will be rainy.
  • 天気予報てんきよほうをテレビで見みます。I watch the weather forecast on television.
  • 天あまの川がわはとてもきれいです。The Milky Way is very beautiful.
  • 夏なつの夜よるに天あまの川がわを見みます。I look at the Milky Way on a summer night.
  • 晴天せいてんの日ひに山やまを歩あるきます。I walk in the mountains on a clear day.

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

Watch out

天気 means weather, not heaven. 天の川 is read あまのがわ; learn the whole word. Unlike 大, 天 has an extra horizontal stroke at the top.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 天気 in hiragana.

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    てんき

    天気 is read てんき; it means weather. Remember the reading with the complete word.

  2. Write the reading of 天の川 in hiragana.

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    あまのがわ

    天の川 is read あまのがわ; it means Milky Way. Remember the reading with the complete word.

  3. Complete the missing kanji from this lesson: 晴＿（せいてん）.

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    天

    天 completes 晴天, read せいてん; the complete expression means clear weather.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 天 from memory in stroke order, and read 天気 and 天の川 aloud. Then check their readings and meanings.