Recognize 月 in everyday Japanese, learn its meanings (month and moon) and read it as part of complete words.

The idea

A kanji can have Japanese-origin readings (kun) and readings borrowed through Chinese (on); learn each reading with its word. Compare 月（つき） and 月曜日（げつようび） in the table. 月 has 4 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
月つきmoon
月曜日げつようびMonday
三月さんがつMarch
一か月いっかげつone month

Examples

  • 今日きょうは月曜日げつようびです。Today is Monday.
  • 月つきがとてもきれいです。The moon is very beautiful.
  • 今月こんげつはとても忙いそがしいです。I am very busy this month.
  • 来月らいげつ日本にほんへ行いきます。I am going to Japan next month.
  • 誕生日たんじょうびは三月さんがつです。My birthday is in March.
  • 一いっか月げつ日本にほんにいます。I will be in Japan for one month.

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

Watch out

月 alone is つき; in 月曜日 it is げつ and in 三月 it is がつ. Compare 月 with the closed box 日.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 月 in hiragana.

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    つき

    月 is read つき; the whole expression means moon. 月 is used here as a word on its own.

  2. Write the reading of 月曜日 in hiragana.

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    げつようび

    月曜日 is read げつようび; the whole expression means Monday. In this word 月 is read げつ.

  3. Fill in the missing kanji: ＿曜日（げつようび）.

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    月

    月 completes 月曜日, which is read げつようび. The completed expression means Monday.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 月 from memory, and read 月 and 月曜日 aloud. Then check both readings and meanings.