Search from various English teachers...
Aysa Chzhen
nuances of using 漢字and ひらがな
I'm always confused that, why do people sometimes use ひらがな, other times use 漢字 for the same word? Are there any nuances of using 漢字and ひらがなunder different circumstances or you can use any form you want, depending on your own willing ?
Example : 1 池に鯉が有ります
2池に鯉があります
1自然にやせることができます
2自然に痩せる事が出来ます
Feb 20, 2018 8:58 AM
Answers · 5
1
as long as I know, in 1982 a famou copywriter 糸井重里first wrote おいしいinstead of 美味しい for a department poster. It was sensational. Of course people go to that expensive department store can read 美味しいkanji. But, to be able to read kanji was not status simbol anymore. It used be.
His copywrite was おいしい生活。We Japanese felt somethig fashonable and modern high class life from that new Japanese. We call it 視覚効果. visual effect. So, novels, CM, PR, MANGA,and even personal letters use hiragana and katakana for visual effect. And sushi restraunts use difficult kanji for visual effect.
So, when I write Japanese I use kanji that junior highschool students can read. Because, most Japanese stop studying kanji after passing highschool entrance exam.
To sell books about losing weight to many people we use やせる not 痩せる.
February 22, 2018
Firstable, 池に鯉が有ります。is incorrect Japanese. You must say 池に鯉がいます。
When we use hiragana for word that you can write in kanji there some reasons.
For example 鯉is difficult to read for some Japanese like children and young people who are not interested in studying kanji.
So, we use hiragana for communicating with those people. We understand that hiragana means carp from the word 池.
Another example to use hiragana is that we want to make soft image. 有this kanji means to exist. We feel somethig hard from this kanji.
In some sushi restaurants we see many kanji for various fish that many Japanese cant read. We dont care because we can ask the cook and enjyoy communicating with him.
February 20, 2018
You can use all the forms, because they both right. for using kanji or kana this is a matter of habit. Generally, we use kanji not kana if the world can be write in kanji, some uncommon kanji use ways we will write with kana.^ - ^
February 20, 2018
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!
Aysa Chzhen
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish
Learning Language
English, Japanese, Spanish, Turkish
Articles You May Also Like

Same Word, Different Meaning: American, British, and South African English
11 likes · 8 Comments

How to Sound Confident in English (Even When You’re Nervous)
13 likes · 11 Comments

Marketing Vocabulary and Phrases for Business English Learners
10 likes · 4 Comments
More articles