男
Man
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| だん | おとこ | 田 + 力 |
Meaning: Man
You have rice field power (or you need power for your rice field).
If you want precision in your rice field, go ask a woman. If you want power in your rice field, you need a MAN.
P.S. Sorry for being totally sexist there – use your possible upsetedness to remember the meaning of this kanji, though, and it will be all worth while.
Reading：だん
Who’s the MAN?
Who da man? DAN‘s the MAN.
Say this over and over in a chanty fashion, preferably with a super manly voice, if you can swing it (out loud, now). Also, if you can think of someone named Dan that you know to imagine with this, it will help you out a lot.
Vocabulary
The kun’yomi is actually going to be a little more popular when it comes to common words, though I imagine the on’yomi will even things out over the long term.
a 男（おとこ）＝ Man
- Meaning: This is the regular ol’ word for “man” or “dude” or “guy” (or something along those lines). It’s the same as the kanji.
- Reading: The kun’yomi reading is harder than the on’yomi one. Try memorizing this one right now, then try to recall it in a few minutes to build up that memory.
a 男の人（おとこのひと）＝ Man (Polite)
- Combo: 男 (man) + 人 (person)
- Meaning: This has the same meaning as 男 (above) but is the polite version.
- Reading: If you know 男 then you should know this word’s reading.
a 男の子（おとこのこ）＝ Boy
- Combo: 男 (boy) 子 (child)
- Meaning: This is going to be a child of man… i.e. a boy!
- Reading: The kun’yomi readings again. One hint is that they’re like two separate words, connected together with the particle の.