Japanese kanji 重: weight, importance and stacking

The idea

重 has 9 strokes; follow their order in the linked diagram. Read 重い（おもい） and 体重（たいじゅう） as complete words, because a character’s pronunciation depends on the word.

Examples

• この荷物にもつはとても重おもいです。This luggage is very heavy.
• その荷物にもつは重おもいので、力ちからを貸かしてください。That luggage is heavy, so please give me a hand.
• 体重たいじゅうを毎朝まいあさ測はかります。I measure my weight every morning.
• 大事だいじな本ほんを重かさねて置おきます。I stack the important books.
• これはとても重要じゅうような話はなしです。This is a very important matter.
• この箱はこの重おもさを測はかります。I measure the weight of this box.

Watch out

重い describes weight; 重要 means important, and 重ねる means to stack. Learn the reading with each word. Compare the shape of 重 with 里.

Try it yourself

1. Write the reading of 重い in hiragana. 「この荷物にもつはとても重いです。」

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   おもい

   重い is read おもい. In the example: This luggage is very heavy. Here it means “heavy”.

2. Write the reading of 体重 in hiragana. 「体重を毎朝まいあさ測はかります。」

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   たいじゅう

   体重 is read たいじゅう. In the example: I measure my weight every morning. Here it means “body weight”.

3. Write the missing kanji: ＿い［重／里］（おもい）.

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   重

   重 completes 重い, read おもい. In the example: This luggage is very heavy. Here it means “heavy”.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 重 from memory and read 重い and 体重 aloud. Then check the readings against the examples.