予
Beforehand
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| よ | n/a | マ + 丁 |
Meaning: Beforehand
This kanji uses two radicals. One you definitely know (mama), and the other is a slightly altered version of one you also know, (the nail). The nail, however, has an extra barb on it, which might make things a little confusing. See the barb on the nail in the kanji (up at the top of this page)? That’s our barbed nail, because it has a barb on it. So, when you see this kanji, try to think mama + barbed nail as the radicals you use to put this kanji together. Whenever you see the mama radical, of course our story is going to have something to do with “mama” (or, your mom). Let’s combine that with barbed nail to create something you can use to remember the meaning of this kanji: beforehand. Your mama took away the barbed nails beforehand. She didn’t want any of the kids to get their hands on them when the party started.
Basically, what you have to remember here is that mom was taking away nails in advance of something. You know, beforehand. This story is a bit shaky, but this kanji is going to mostly be about the common words, anyways. As long as you can get to “before” or “in advanced” or “beforehand” with this kanji’s meaning you’ll be just fine, at this point. Since this kanji has no kun’yomi, that means it won’t be used so much on its own, which means you don’t have to learn the meaning as well either. Nice, right?
Reading: よ
She took away the barbed nail beforehand because she knew you’d hurt yourself, just like she’s going to hurt you after you tell her the yo mama joke you just came up with.
Yo mama so stupid she tried to put her m&ms in alphabetical order, yo.
Vocabulary
Don’t you love kanji without kun’yomi? I do, so much easier to remember the reading in the vocab. Even luckier for you, though, there is no vocab… at least not until you learn more kanji. So, move on.