Look-alike kanji: one stroke changes the word
人/入, 日/目, 土/士, 牛/午, 大/太/犬 and other pairs learners swap
Why these slip past you
In the Latin alphabet the classic confusions are b/d and p/q: one shape, flipped. Kanji look-alikes are decided by whether a stroke pokes through, which bar is longer, where a dot sits or which radical sits on the left. Your alphabet never asked for any of those, so you read the silhouette and get the wrong word. Each pair below comes with the one detail that settles it.
One stroke apart
| Group | How to tell them apart | Typical slip |
|---|---|---|
| 人・入 | 人 (person): the left stroke stands tall, the right leans on it. 入 (enter): the right stroke overhangs the left like a roof. | 入口 (いりぐち, entrance) read as 人口 (じんこう, population) |
| 日・目・曰 | 日 (day): short box, one inner bar. 目 (eye): tall box, two bars. 曰 (say): wider than tall, inner bar stops short of the right edge; rare, the dictionary radical of 書. | 日曜日 written with 目 |
| 土・士 | 土 (earth): bottom bar longer. 士 (scholar): top bar longer. | 土曜日 is earth; 富士山 and 弁護士 are the scholar |
| 牛・午 | 牛 (cow): the vertical pokes through the top. 午 (noon): it stops at the bar. | 午後 written 牛後 |
| 千・干 | 千 (thousand): slanted top stroke. 干 (dry): flat top stroke. | 三千円 written with 干 |
| 天・夫 | 天 (sky): nothing above the top bar. 夫 (husband): the vertical pokes out like a topknot. | 天気 (てんき) vs 夫 (おっと) |
| 大・太・犬 | 大 (big) is bare. 太 (fat): dot between the legs. 犬 (dog): dot on the right shoulder. | 大きい犬 written as 犬きい大 |
| 九・力 | Look at how the second stroke ends. 九 (nine): it sweeps out to the right and curls up, like 乙. 力 (power): it drops down and hooks back to the left, like 刀. | 九時 (くじ) misread as 力 |
| 東・車 | 東 (east): 木 with 日 threaded on it, legs at the bottom. 車 (car): a box on an axle, no legs. | 東京 (とうきょう) vs 電車 (でんしゃ) |
| 貝・見 | 貝 (money): two short ticks below. 見 (see): 目 on legs, the right leg hooks up. | 買う (かう) written with 見 instead of money 貝 |
| 左・右・石 | 左 (left): tool 工 below, bar written first. 右 (right): mouth 口 below, slant written first. 石 (stone): 口 under a cliff 厂, no crossing bar. | 右に曲がる obeyed by turning left |
Same part, different radical
| Group | How to tell them apart | Typical slip |
|---|---|---|
| 時・持・待・特 | All share 寺; the left side decides. Sun 日 tells time 時, hand 扌 holds 持, feet 彳 wait 待, cow 牛 is special 特. | ✗ 駅で持っています for ✓ 駅で待っています (waiting, not holding) |
| 聞・間・問 | Inside the gate 門: ear 耳 hears 聞, sun 日 marks an interval 間, mouth 口 asks 問. | 質問 (しつもん) written 質聞; 時間 written 時聞 |
| 毎・母・海 | 母 (mother): two dots inside. 毎 (every): a hat ノ一 on top and one bar through the middle instead of dots. 海 (sea): 毎 plus water 氵. | 毎日 written with 母, 'mother day' |
| 会・今・合 | Under the 人 roof: 会 (meet) has 云, 今 (now) a short hook, 合 (fit) 一 over 口. | 会社 written 今社; 会う (meet someone) vs 合う (fit), both あう |
| 買・売・読 | 買 (buy): net 罒 over money 貝. 売 (sell): no 貝, the money is gone. 読 (read): words 言 plus 売. | 売る (うる) and 読む (よむ) swapped in drills |
The habit that fixes most of it
When a word looks wrong in context, ask three questions: does anything poke through the top bar, which horizontal is longest, and what radical sits on the left? Then write the pair side by side once; the hand remembers what the eye keeps skipping.
Common mistakes
- Pokes through the top bar? 牛 cow, 夫 husband. Stops at it? 午 noon, 天 sky.
- Longer bar at the bottom is earth 土; longer bar on top is the scholar 士 of 富士山.
- The dot decides: 大 big has none, 太 fat has it between the legs, 犬 dog on the shoulder.
- Same right side, different left radical: 時 sun, 持 hand, 待 feet, 特 cow, so 持つ is hold and 待つ is wait.
- Inside the gate 門: an ear 聞 hears, the sun 間 measures time, a mouth 問 asks.
- 貝 is money: 買 (buy) needs it, 売 (sell) has already spent it, 読 (read) is 言 plus 売.
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