Explore 民 in words about communities and their traditions. Learn each reading with a complete word.

The idea

民 has five strokes and is commonly read みん in compounds: 国民（こくみん）, 市民（しみん）, 住民（じゅうみん） and 民話（みんわ）. Follow the linked stroke order and use the table to connect words with contexts.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingExample in context
国民こくみんI listen to the opinions of the people of the country.
市民しみんCitizens clean the park.
住民じゅうみんThe residents of this town are kind.
民話みんわI read a folktale to the children.

Examples

  • 国民こくみんの意見いけんを聞ききます。I listen to the opinions of the people of the country.
  • 市民しみんが公園こうえんを掃除そうじします。Citizens clean the park.
  • この町まちの住民じゅうみんは親切しんせつです。The residents of this town are kind.
  • 民族みんぞくの文化ぶんかを学まなびます。I study the culture of an ethnic group.
  • 民話みんわを子こどもたちに読よみます。I read a folktale to the children.
  • 村民そんみんが祭まつりの準備じゅんびをします。Villagers prepare for the festival.

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

Watch out

国民 refers to a country’s people or nationals; 住民 refers to residents of a place. They are not interchangeable in every context. 民話 is a folk story, not a group of people.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 国民 in hiragana.

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    こくみん

    国民 is こくみん: the people or nationals of a country. Learn the reading as a whole word.

  2. Write the reading of 住民 in hiragana.

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    じゅうみん

    住民 is じゅうみん: residents of a place. The long vowel in じゅう matters.

  3. Choose the missing kanji: 民＿（みんわ）［話／語］.

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    話

    話 completes 民話（みんわ）, a folktale. 語 does not form this word.

Use it today

Write 民 using the stroke diagram. Cover the table, read 国民 and 住民, then make a sentence with one.