Meet 院 in 病院 and 入院. The examples connect each word’s reading with a useful context.

The idea

院 has 10 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram. Learn 病院（びょういん） and 入院（にゅういん） as complete words: a character’s reading depends on the word.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingExample in context
病院びょういんThere is a hospital near the station.
入院にゅういんMy grandfather was admitted to hospital last week.
退院たいいんMy mother was discharged from hospital today.
美容院びよういんI had my hair cut at a hair salon.

Examples

  • 駅えきの近ちかくに病院びょういんがあります。There is a hospital near the station.
  • 祖父そふは先週せんしゅう入院にゅういんしました。My grandfather was admitted to hospital last week.
  • 母ははは今日きょう退院たいいんしました。My mother was discharged from hospital today.
  • 美容院びよういんで髪かみを切きりました。I had my hair cut at a hair salon.
  • 姉あねは大学院だいがくいんで研究けんきゅうしています。My older sister does research at graduate school.
  • この町まちには小ちいさな医院いいんがあります。There is a small medical clinic in this town.

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

Watch out

院 appears in both 病院 and 美容院, but a hair salon is not a hospital. 入院 means hospital admission; 退院 means discharge. Compare the shapes of 院 and 完; they are different characters.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 病院 in hiragana.

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    びょういん

    病院 is read びょういん. In context: There is a hospital near the station.

  2. Write the reading of 入院 in hiragana.

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    にゅういん

    入院 is read にゅういん. In context: My grandfather was admitted to hospital last week.

  3. Write the missing kanji: 病＿（びょういん）.

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    院

    院 completes 病院, read びょういん. In context: There is a hospital near the station.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 院 from memory, read 病院 and 入院 aloud, then make a sentence with one of them.