台
Machine
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| たい | n/i | ム + 口 |
Meaning: Machine
There’s a pile of stuff that’s going to be put inside your mouth… and it is terrible stuff. There’s cars, microwave ovens, televisions, and more, and somehow you have to put them all in your mouth. This is some kind of torture, so feel the fear of what you’re about to go through. The reason you want to imagine these things going into your mouth in particular is because these things are machines, and this is the machine counter kanji that you’re learning.
If you need extra help remembering, you’ll have to imagine these big machines being put into your mouth, stretching your cheeks out huge and filling it up. This is the most painful thing ever, but somehow you’re able to put this pile of machines in your mouth… you’ll live another day.
Reading: たい
Finally, you’re in luck. The police and emergency services have found you and saved you (feel the relief of that!). But, because you’re full of cars and microwave ovens, they can’t fit you in the ambulance (feel the disappointment at that). Instead of putting you inside, they tie (たい) you to the top of the ambulance, and drive you away.
Imagine the conversation the emergency people would have…“we can’t fit him in… so I guess we’ll have to tie this one to the top?” Do you try to talk them into putting you inside anyways? Or do you just want to get going… so hurry up and tie me?
Vocabulary
Learn the meanings and the readings of these two vocab before moving on.
a 台（だい）＝ Counter For Machines, Vehicles, and other big things
- Meaning: The meaning is basically the same as the kanji (I’ve simplified the kanji meaning a bit). This is used to count big things and machines, like cars n’ stuff.
- Reading: The on’yomi reading yo. It’s usually connected to a number, though, like this:
a 一台（いちだい）＝ One big thing (like a machine, vehicle, etc)
- Meaning: There’s a lot of things this can count, but you can generally bet that if it’s a big machine, it’s probably going to use 台. So, in this case, you could be counting cars. How many cars? 一台…
- Reading: The on’yomi readings.