Recognize 家 in everyday Japanese and learn its readings together with complete words.

The idea

家 has 10 strokes. Follow the order in the linked KanjiVG diagram. Compare 家（いえ）, “house; home”, with 家族（かぞく）, “family”. A character may be read differently from word to word; learn each word as a unit.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
家いえhouse; home
家族かぞくfamily
家うちhome; one’s household
作家さっかwriter; author

Examples

  • 私わたしは家いえでお茶ちゃを飲のみます。I drink tea at home.
  • 家族かぞくは四人よにんです。There are four people in my family.
  • 友達ともだちが私わたしの家いえに来きます。A friend will come to my house.
  • 今日きょうは家うちにいます。I am at home today.
  • 父ちちは作家さっかです。My father is a writer.
  • 家族かぞくと晩ばんご飯はんを食たべます。I eat dinner with my family.

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

Watch out

Both いえ and うち can mean home; うち often emphasizes one’s own home or household. 家族 means family. Compare the shape of 家 with 字; notice how their components differ.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 家族 (family) in hiragana.

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    かぞく

    家族 is read かぞく and means “family”. Remember the reading as part of the whole word.

  2. Write the reading of 作家 (writer; author) in hiragana.

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    さっか

    作家 is read さっか and means “writer; author”. Remember the reading as part of the whole word.

  3. Fill in the missing kanji: 作＿（さっか）.

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    家

    家 completes 作家（さっか）, meaning “writer; author”.

  4. Which word means “writer; author”? Write the whole word using kanji: 作家 or 家族.

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    作家

    作家 is read さっか and means “writer; author”. Remember the reading as part of the whole word. 家族 instead means “family”.

Use it today

Write 家 three times following the linked stroke diagram. Cover the table, read 家 and 家族 aloud, and then check their readings and meanings.