大
Big
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| たい, だい | おお | 大 |
Meaning: Big
The big radical and the big kanji are exactly the same!
So, if you know the radical, you know the meaning of this kanji as well.
Reading: たい, だい
There’s this big guy (that’s how you remember the radical, remember?), and he’s wearing a huge Tie Dye (たい, だい) shirt. Because he’s so huge, the tie dye shirt is also super huge.
When you look at the big guy in your head, imagine him covered in tie dye head to toe. Think about how ridiculous it looks on him, especially since he’s such a big guy.
Vocabulary
This kanji will come up in vocab a lot later on, but there’s only three for you to learn right now. This is actually one of the most important and common kanji out there, so give yourself a pat on the back.
大きい（おおきい）＝ Big, Large
- Meaning: This has the same meaning as the kanji. It’s an adjective.
- Reading: The reading is the kun’yomi reading, though. You can tell because it has hiragana sticking out of it. Imagine something really big coming at you. All you can say is “ohhh… ohhhhhh” (おお) right before it squishes you. From there, you just attach the hiragana you see.
a 大きさ（おおきさ）＝ Size
- Meaning: This is almost the same as 大きい, but the difference is the さ on the end. The さ on the end changes the adjective 大きい to a noun. That’s why this is “size.”
- Reading: You can remember the reading the same way you remembered the reading for 大きい and just apply it over here.
a 大した（たいした）＝ Considerable, Great
- Meaning: The した part is actually the past tense of “to do” (so, it’s “did”). If you “did” something “big” then you did something “considerable” or “great” (in size).
- Reading: You’ll have to remember that this word uses the on’yomi reading even though it looks like it shouldn’t (because it looks like there’s hiragana coming out of it). The hiragana is actually a separate piece, though, so don’t get confused!
a 大人（おとな）＝ Adult
- Combo: 大 (big) + 人 (person)
- Meaning: A big person is an adult… at least in the eyes of children, I imagine.
- Reading: The reading is very strange and makes almost no sense for either of the kanji that make up this word. That’s why you’ll have to learn the reading of this one straight up (sorry!).