JLPT N3 Kanji - 有, 給, 休, 暇 - Lesson 3

Welcome to the third lesson everyone!

This time we're going to look at five kanjis (有, 給, 休, 暇) with the theme of "Work/ Holidays/ Vacation". All of these five kanjis are very common and often used in daily life conversations. If you prefer to watch the video lesson, it is available on the RHJ channel:

First, we'll look at an important word: 有給休暇 (ゆうきゅうきゅうか) meaning "paid holiday". Why did we choose such a complicated word for today? Because of the combination of kanjis of course! Each of these four kanjis is extremely common, a must learn for intermediate Japanese study. So, let's look at the first kanji 有 which means "to have" or "to exist".

• 有 - kun: ある - on: ユウ、ウ
• 有る - ある - to exist, to be
• 有名な - ゆうめいな - famous (adj.)
• 有毒ガス - ゆうどくガス - toxic gas
• 有機 - ゆうき - organic
• 有無 - うむ - with or without

So, it's clear that 有 is a very common kanji that that means the existence of something. For example, 毒 (どく) means "poison/toxins", and so 有毒 obviously means "poisonous/toxic". Another example is - 名 (めい) means "name/reputation" and so 有名 means "famous/reputed". Let's look at some example sentences to understand this kanji better:

• 竹内まりやはめっちゃ有名だよね！
  たけうちまりやはめっちゃゆうめいだよね！
  Mariya Takeuchi is extremely famous, right!
• 出欠の有無を2月10日までにお知らせください 。
  しゅっけつのうむをにがつとうかまでにおしらせください。
  If you are going to attend the program, please let us know by February 10.
• 少し高いですが、いつも有機野菜を買おうとしています 。
  すこしたかいですが、いつもゆうきやさいをかおうとしています。
  I always try to buy organic vegetables even though they are a bit expensive.

If you have any questions about the words or example sentences, please let me know in the comments. I'll try my best to answer them.

With 有 done, let's move onto 給

• 給 - kun: たま、たも、たまえ on: キュウ
• 給う - たまう - to confer, to bestow
• 給料 - きゅうりょう - salary
• 給食 - きゅうしょく - provision of lunch (at work/school)
• 給油所 - きゅうゆじょ - refueling station

給 is very closely related to granting something, getting provision of some item/service. The most commonly known word is definitely 給料 (きゅうりょう) meaning "salary". Again, let's look at some example sentences to get the hang of this kanji:

• 今月の給料をもらってすぐに使い切ってしまいました。
  こんげつのきゅうりょうをもらってすぐにつかいきってしまいました。
  As soon as I received this month's salary, I spent it all.
• 僕の学校は給食を廃止しようとした。そんなこと信じられるかい？
  ぼくのがっこうはきゅうしょくをはいししようとした。そんなことしんじられるかい？
  My school tried to get rid off "school meals". Can you believe that?
• 給油した方がいいよ、ほとんど残ってないから。
  きゅうゆしたほうがいいよ、ほとんどのこってないから 。
  You're running low on fuel, you should refuel soon. 

Next we have 休 - an extremely common kanji that is related to "take a rest/relaxation". Let's just dive into the example words and sentences:

• 休 - kun: やす - on: キュウ
• 休む - やすむ - to take a break, to go on a holiday
• 休憩 - きゅうけい - recess, break (n.)
• 休業 - きゅうぎょう - closed (for business)
• 休職 - きゅうしょく - leave of absence, temporary retirement from a job

And here are some example sentences:

• 今日は、調子が良くないのでお休みさせていただきます。
  きょうは、ちょうしがよくないのでおやすみさせていただきます。
  I do not feel very well, please excuse me today. (Very polite expression - can be used at school or at work)
• 10分間の休憩を取りましょう。
  じゅっぷんかんのきゅうけいをとりましょう。
  Let's take a break for ten minutes.
• 木曜日は休業日
  もくようびはきゅうぎょうび
  Closed on Thursdays
• 「休職できる期間は3カ月～長くて3年までが一般的」
  「きゅうしょくできるきかんは3かげつ～ながくて3ねんまでがいっぱんてき」
  Usually, the leave of absence is from 3 months up to 3 years.

The last kanji in today's map is 暇 - a quite complex looking kanji, yet a very common one. It's ひま, meaning "free time/leisure time". It's very common in conversations, not very common in written form though. Some example words are:

• 暇 - kun: ひま、いとま - on: カ
• 暇な時間 - ひまなじかん - free time
• 暇つぶし - ひまつぶし - to kill time
• 休暇 - きゅうか - holiday, vacation

Let's use these words in some sentences:

• うん、今は日暇だよ。
  うん、いまはひまだよ。
  Yeah, I'm free now.
• 田中さんは休暇過ごしにフランスに行きました。
  たなかさんはきゅうかすごしにフランスにいきました。
  Mr. Tanaka went to France to spend his holidays.
• そこで急に暇つぶしのちょっとしたアイデアが浮んだ。
  そこできゅうにひまつぶしのちょっとしたアイデアがうんだ。
  Then suddenly a little time-wasting time came to mind.

While using 暇 (ひま), there's a small cultural footnote that I must share. When we say "free time" in English, we often mean that we're not doing anything very important at that time, and so we can help with something/go out somewhere. However, in Japanese, 暇 means something like this - "I have nothing better to do now/at that time" or "I have absolutely nothing planned at that time". In some situations, it may sound quite tacky and tasteless to use 暇, and so there are several other expressions to mean that "I have free time now": 

• うん、今大丈夫だよ。
  うん、いまだいじょうぶだよ。
  Yeah, now it's okay. (In reply to the question "Do you have a minute?")
• はい、あの時は空いてます。
  はい、あのときはあいてます。
  Yes, I'm available at that time. (Formal)

Of course, there are many different ways to get this meaning across, but I personally use these most often. Depending on the situation, please use the appropriate level of formal/casual expression as this is an important factor in the Japanese language.

Okay, with all kanjis of today's lesson combined, this is how the Kanji Map looks like:

Before we end this lesson, I'd like to mention that there is an excellent online dictionary for searching words/sentences/conjugations of kanjis - Jisho. I have been using this dictionary and I have found it very useful for learning new words/kanjis. The Jisho team has included so many functionalities to this dictionary, it's just a wonderful tool to study kanji. I have used Jisho for preparing my lessons as well, and so just wanted to give them the proper credit.
Thanks for reading till the end! See you next time!