Japanese kanji 老: ageing and later life

The idea

老 has six strokes; follow the linked diagram. 老人 is ろうじん, 老後 is ろうご, and 老いる is おいる. The compound reading ろう differs from the verb reading お.

Examples

• 祖父そふは年としを取とって老おいています。My grandfather is growing older.
• 老人ろうじんが新聞しんぶんを読よんでいます。The elderly man is reading a newspaper.
• この町まちには老人ろうじんがたくさんいます。This town has many older people.
• 祖母そぼは老人ろうじんホームに住すんでいます。My grandmother lives in a nursing home.
• 彼かれの両親りょうしんはだんだん老おいています。His parents are getting old.
• 老後ろうごの生活せいかつについて話はなしました。We talked about life in old age.

Watch out

老人 means an older person, not necessarily a man. Depending on context it can sound blunt; 年配の人 is a gentler alternative. Do not confuse 老 with 考.

Try it yourself

1. Write the reading of 老人 in hiragana.

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   ろうじん

   老人 is ろうじん: an older person. In the example, the person is reading a newspaper.

2. Write the reading of 老いる in hiragana.

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   おいる

   老いる is おいる, meaning to grow old; いる follows the kanji as part of the word.

3. Choose the missing kanji: ＿後（ろうご）［老／考］.

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   老

   老 completes 老後（ろうご）, meaning later life. 考 is a different character.

Use it today

Write 老 using the diagram, cover the table and read 老人 and 老いる. Then make a sentence about later life.