書

書	Meanings: write, book, document On Readings: ショ sho Kun Readings: か（く） ka(ku) Most Used Pronunciation: ka(ku) JLPT Level: 4 (see all JLPT 4 kanji) Grade: 2 Kanji Part: 日 Stroke Number: 10

Level 4 Completion 77 / 103

Common jukugo
電子辞書 - でん　し　じ　しょ den shi ji sho - electronic dictionary
読書 - どく　しょ doku sho - reading
聖書 - せい　しょ sei sho - the Bible
教科書 - きょう　か　しょ kyou ka sho - textbook
図書館 - と　しょ　かん to sho kan - library
書店 - しょ　てん sho ten - bookstore

Useful Examples
Japanese: いつか本を書きたい。
Romaji: itsuka hon o kakitai.
English: Someday, I would like to write a book.

Japanese: その店では教科書を売っている。
Romaji: sono mise de wa kyoukasho o utte iru.
English: They sell textbooks at the bookstore.

Japanese: ジミィーは手紙を書いていますか。
Romaji: jimii- wa tegami o kaite imasu ka.
English: Is Jimmy writing a letter?

Japanese: あの男は自分の名前さえ書けない。
Romaji: ano otoko wa jibun no namae sae kakenai.
English: That man can not so much as write his name.

Japanese: 地図を書いていただけませんか。
Romaji: chizu o kaite itadakemasen ka.
English: Could you draw a map for me?

Japanese: 図書室ではしゃべるな。
Romaji: toshoshitsu de wa shaberu na.
English: Don't talk in the reading room.

Japanese: 用紙の一番下に名前を書け。
Romaji: youshi no ichibanshita ni namae o kake.
English: Write your name at the bottom of the paper.

Japanese: これはよい教科書だ。
Romaji: kore wa yoi kyoukasho da.
English: This is a good textbook.

Japanese: 数人の学生が図書館へやってきた。
Romaji: suunin no gakusei ga toshokan e yatte kita.
English: Several students came to the library.

Japanese: 図書館への多数の新着書。
Romaji: toshokan e no tasuu no shinchakusho.
English: The library's many new acquisitions.

Look alike kanji

Notes/Mnemonic
Remember this one as the one with a lot of horizontal lines. Also remember there is a sun at the bottom; after all, you must have light to read!

A Comment by Jim Satko
The bottom is not a sun, but a character that means the same as hanasimasu, to speak. (It's wider than a sun.) The top is a hand holding a brush. To paint, you draw a field with your brush. To write, you speak by using a brush. Here's a picture to help illustrate.

Many example sentences are from the Tanaka Corpus as modified for use with WWWJDIC.