The short version: Okurigana (送り仮名) are the hiragana after a kanji. The kanji holds the part of a word that never changes; the kana start where the word begins to inflect: 書く → 書かない → 書きます. Learn six rules plus six exceptions (大きい, 小さい, 少ない, 明るい, 危ない, 冷たい) and you will be able to predict the spelling of almost any N5–N4 word — and read the kanji correctly from its kana.
The first weeks of kanji feel like learning single characters: 山, 川, 人. Then verbs and adjectives arrive, and every word is suddenly half kanji and half hiragana — 食べる, 起きる, 新しい, 始まる. Where the kanji stops looks arbitrary, so most learners memorise each spelling as a picture. That works until a test asks you to choose between 新しい and 新い, or until you try to write a word you have only ever read.
It is not arbitrary. The split has one principle behind it, and it has been written down officially since 1973.
The one principle: kanji for what stays, kana for what moves
Japanese verbs and adjectives change their endings constantly. A kanji cannot change, so it is given only the part of the word that stays the same in every form. The kana take over at the point where the word starts to move.
か never changes, so it lives inside 書. The next syllable cycles through か・き・く・い, so from there on everything is kana. This is why okurigana exist at all: they let one kanji serve every form of a word. The rest of this guide is simply this principle applied to each part of speech — plus the places where history bent it.
Godan (う) verbs send exactly the last syllable, because that is the one that cycles through the vowel rows:
読む
よむ · read待つ
まつ · wait話す
はなす · speak帰る
かえる · go homeIchidan (る) verbs send the syllable before る as well — which is the spelling that surprises everyone:
食べる
たべる · eat起きる
おきる · get up教える
おしえる · teach借りる
かりる · borrowTwo-syllable る-verbs have nothing left to put in the kanji except the first syllable, so they send only る: 見る, 寝る, 出る, 着る, 居る. And する / 来る are, as always, their own story: 来る, 来ない, 来ます — the kanji stays and its reading changes underneath it.
When a word is built on another word, it keeps that word's okurigana and adds its own. This is the most useful rule on the page, because Japanese has dozens of verb pairs that share a kanji — one where something happens by itself, one where someone does it — and okurigana is the only thing on the page that tells them apart.
| It happens (intransitive) | Someone does it (transitive) | What the kana tell you |
|---|---|---|
| 始まるはじまる · begins | 始めるはじめる · begin sth | まる = it happens, める = someone does it. Same for 閉まる / 閉める, 決まる / 決める. |
| 上がるあがる · go up | 上げるあげる · raise | がる / げる. Also 下がる / 下げる. |
| 起きるおきる · get up | 起こすおこす · wake sb | 起こす keeps an extra こ; the kana follow the sound. Also 落ちる / 落とす. |
| 変わるかわる · change | 変えるかえる · change sth | 変わる sends わる because it contains 変える. Also 終わる / 終える. |
| 消えるきえる · go out | 消すけす · turn off | Different kana and a different reading of 消. |
| 入るはいる · enter | 入れるいれる · put in | る vs れる — and again the reading of 入 changes. |
Ordinary い-adjectives send only い, since that is what changes (高い → 高くない → 高かった):
高い
たかい · tall, expensive安い
やすい · cheap早い
はやい · early暑い
あつい · hotAdjectives that end in しい send the し as well. This is written into the official rules, and like the ichidan case it is a fossil of classical grammar, where these adjectives formed a separate class with し in the ending:
新しい
あたらしい · new楽しい
たのしい · fun忙しい
いそがしい · busy難しい
むずかしい · difficult大きい · 小さい · 少ない · 明るい · 危ない · 冷たい
Most な-adjectives are Sino-Japanese compounds with no okurigana at all: 元気, 有名, 便利, 大切. The ones that do have kana end in か, やか or らか, and the rule sends that whole piece:
静か
しずか · quiet暖か
あたたか · warm穏やか
おだやか · calm, gentle明らか
あきらか · clear, obviousA neat consequence: 暖か (な-adjective) and 暖かい (い-adjective) both exist and both keep the か, because the い-adjective is built on the な-adjective (the family rule again). The same goes for 細かい.
Plain nouns are written in kanji alone: 山, 花, 月, 何. Nouns that were made from a verb or adjective keep the okurigana of their parent:
| Parent word | Noun | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 休む | 休み | a holiday, a break |
| 答える | 答え | an answer |
| 帰る | 帰り | the way home |
| 晴れる | 晴れ | clear weather (on every forecast) |
| 暑い | 暑さ | the heat |
Counting words send つ: 一つ, 二つ, 三つ … 幾つ. The full native counting system is in the Japanese numbers guide.
Adverbs, conjunctions and similar words send their final syllable: 必ず (without fail), 少し (a little), 全く (entirely), 最も (most).
Adverb → last syllable
少し
すこし · a littleAdjective → exception list
少ない
すくない · few, not muchThis pair is a favourite of kanji tests precisely because the same kanji has two readings and two okurigana patterns. Knowing why — adverb rule vs adjective exception — turns it from a trick question into an easy mark.
The bonus: okurigana tells you how to read the kanji
Here is the payoff that makes all this worth learning. Many common kanji have several readings, and the okurigana is often the only clue to which one you want. Read the kana first, then the kanji.
Notice how much work two or three kana are doing. 上がる and 上る mean nearly the same thing, but the kana alone tell you to read them あがる and のぼる. This is why beginners who ignore okurigana struggle to read kanji they “know” — they learned the character, but not the signal that selects its reading. For why kanji carry multiple readings in the first place, see on'yomi vs kun'yomi.
Where okurigana cannot help you
An honest guide has to show the limits. A handful of very common words have the same okurigana for two different readings, and only the sentence can decide:
| Spelling | Reading 1 | Reading 2 | How to tell |
|---|---|---|---|
| 行った | いった · went | おこなった · carried out | A place + に/へ → いった. An event or survey + を → おこなった. |
| 開く | あく · (a door) opens | ひらく · open, hold (a meeting) | ドアが開く → あく. 会を開く → ひらく. |
| 止める | とめる · stop (a car) | やめる · quit (a habit) | A physical object → とめる. A habit or plan → やめる (usually written 辞める or やめる). |
| 辛い | からい · spicy | つらい · painful, hard | Food → からい. Feelings, work → つらい. |
Why signs write 受付 without okurigana
Once you know the rules, Japanese signage looks like it breaks them. The reception desk is 受付, not 受け付け. The ticket counter is 切符売場, not 切符売り場. This is allowed: the official rules permit dropping okurigana in fixed compound nouns where no misreading is possible, and signs, forms and labels use that freedom constantly because space is tight. The verb is still 受け付ける; the sign is a set noun. You will see both 売り場 and 売場 in the same shop — neither is a mistake. More signage vocabulary is in 50 kanji signs you see every day.
Why this matters on the JLPT
The N5 and N4 vocabulary section includes a 表記 (orthography) task: a word is given in hiragana and you choose how it is written. A common trap in practice materials is to offer the right kanji with the wrong okurigana — 新しい against 新い, 少ない against 少い, 教える against 教る. If you have learned words as whole pictures, all of them look plausible under time pressure. If you know the six rules, the wrong ones look wrong. See the official JLPT sample questions for the format.
Check yourself — which spelling is right?
Pick the correct okurigana. The explanation names the rule.
Rule 1: an ichidan verb sends the syllable before る.
Rule 3: adjectives in しい send from し.
Exception list: 少ない sends one more syllable. Compare the adverb 少し.
Rule 2 (family): 始まる keeps ま to stay apart from its transitive partner 始める (someone begins something).
Rule 4: な-adjectives ending in か send か. (な is added only before a noun.)
Reading key: 上がる = あがる (kana がる), but 上る with only る = のぼる.
Reference summary
- Definition
- Okurigana (送り仮名) = the hiragana written after a kanji to complete a word. Official rules: 送り仮名の付け方, Cabinet Notice No. 2 of 1973 (revised 1981, 2010).
- Principle
- The kanji holds what never changes; kana begin where the word inflects.
- Rule 1 — verbs
- Godan: last syllable (書く, 読む). Ichidan: syllable before る (食べる, 起きる). Two-syllable る-verbs: only る (見る, 寝る).
- Rule 2 — family
- Derived words keep the parent's kana: 始まる/始める, 変わる (from 変える), 起こす (from 起きる), 生まれる (from 生む).
- Rule 3 — い-adjectives
- Send い (高い); しい-adjectives send from し (新しい). Exceptions: 大きい, 小さい, 少ない, 明るい, 危ない, 冷たい.
- Rule 4 — な-adjectives
- Send か / やか / らか (静か, 穏やか, 明らか). Compounds have none (元気).
- Rule 5 — nouns
- None (山, 話, 次), unless derived from a verb or adjective (休み, 答え, 暑さ). Counting words send つ (一つ).
- Rule 6 — adverbs
- Last syllable (必ず, 少し, 全く).
- Reading key
- 上/上がる/上げる/上る = うえ/あがる/あげる/のぼる. 細い ほそい vs 細かい こまかい.
- Limits
- 行った (いった/おこなった), 開く (あく/ひらく), 止める (とめる/やめる), 辛い (からい/つらい) need context.
- Signs
- Fixed compound nouns may drop okurigana: 受付, 切符売場.
Related Reading on Kanjijo
Frequently Asked Questions
The hiragana written after a kanji to complete a word — the べる of 食べる, the しい of 新しい. They carry the inflecting part so the kanji can stay fixed across every form. Their placement follows the official rules 送り仮名の付け方 (1973).
Ichidan verbs send the syllable before る (食べる, 起きる, 教える). In classical Japanese that syllable changed (食ぶ / 食べ), so it counts as part of the ending. Two-syllable る-verbs such as 見る and 寝る send only る.
Adjectives ending in しい send from し by official rule: 新しい, 楽しい, 忙しい, 難しい. Ordinary い-adjectives send only い: 高い, 安い.
大きい, 小さい, 少ない, 明るい, 危ない, 冷たい; the な-adjectives in か/やか/らか (静か, 明らか); and the pairs 少し vs 少ない and 話 (noun) vs 話す (verb).
Often, yes: 上 うえ, 上がる あがる, 上げる あげる, 上る のぼる; 細い ほそい vs 細かい こまかい. Not always: 行った (いった/おこなった) and 開く (あく/ひらく) need the sentence around them.
- Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁), 送り仮名の付け方 — the official okurigana rules (Cabinet Notice No. 2, 1973; revised 1981 and 2010), including the exception lists quoted above.
- Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁), 常用漢字表 — the official list of 2,136 common-use kanji and their approved readings.
- The Japan Foundation & JEES, JLPT sample questions — format of the N5–N4 orthography (表記) task.
Read the kana, then the kanji
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