Recognize 山 in everyday Japanese, learn its meanings (mountain) 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 山（やま） and 火山（かざん） in the table. 山 has 3 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
山やまmountain
火山かざんvolcano
山の上やまのうえtop of a mountain
山の近くやまのちかくnear a mountain

Examples

  • あの山やまは高たかいです。That mountain is high.
  • 明日あした山やまに登のぼります。I will climb a mountain tomorrow.
  • 山やまの上うえは寒さむいです。It is cold at the top of the mountain.
  • あの山やまを見みてください。Please look at that mountain.
  • ここに火山かざんがあります。There is a volcano here.
  • この町まちは山やまの近ちかくです。This town is near a mountain.

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

Watch out

山 alone is やま. In 火山 it is voiced as ざん. Mountain 山 joins at the bottom; the three strokes of 川 do not.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 山 in hiragana.

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    やま

    山 is read やま; the whole expression means mountain. 山 is used here as a word on its own.

  2. Write the reading of 火山 in hiragana.

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    かざん

    火山 is read かざん; the whole expression means volcano. Here 山 takes the voiced reading ざん.

  3. Fill in the missing kanji: 火＿（かざん）.

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    山

    山 completes 火山, which is read かざん. The completed expression means volcano.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 山 from memory, and read 山 and 火山 aloud. Then check both readings and meanings.