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JLPT N17画 · 7 strokesradical 豆grade 3freq #1422

beans, pea, midget

On'yomi (音読み)

  • トウ

Kun'yomi (訓読み)

  • まめ
  • まめ-

Mnemonic

Imagine a tiny midget dressed as a bean, bouncing happily among giant peas in a garden, celebrating their small stature and extraordinary flavor.

About this kanji

The kanji 豆, pronounced as "mame" in kun'yomi and "tou" or "zu" in on'yomi, primarily means "beans" or "pea." It is commonly used as a noun. You will often encounter this kanji in compounds like 小豆 (azuki), which refers to adzuki beans, a popular ingredient in Japanese sweets. 大豆 (daizu) means soya beans, essential for making tofu (豆腐, toufu) and soy milk (豆乳, tounyuu). A noteworthy point is that 豆 can also refer to something small or minor, relating to its usage in describing smaller beans or midgets. This kanji is quite essential in Japanese cooking and culture!

Example sentences

  • この豆は栄養価が高い。

    These beans are highly nutritious.

Meanings across languages

English
beans, pea, midget
Tiếng Việt
đậu, đậu hà lan, người lùn
日本語
豆, エンドウ, 小人
한국어
콩, 완두콩, 왜소인
中文
豆子, 豌豆, 矮人
id
kacang
th
ถั่ว
es
frijoles
fr
haricots
de
Bohnen
pt
feijões

Common compounds

  • 小豆あずきadzuki bean (Vigna angularis)
  • 大豆だいずsoya bean (Glycine max), soybean, soy
  • 豆腐とうふtofu, bean curd, beancurd
  • 納豆なっとうnatto (fermented soybeans)
  • 豆乳とうにゅうsoy milk
  • 豆知識まめちしきtrivia, snippet of knowledge
  • 枝豆えだまめedamame (green soybeans)
  • 豆類まめるいpulse (edible seeds of various leguminous crops), plant yielding pulse

Want to actually learn this kanji?

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