Kanji or Hiragana? Why ください, こと and できる Are Written in Kana

Learn each kanji with its parts and a mnemonic. Kanjijo covers all 2,480 kanji from N5 to N1 with readings, radicals, stroke order and a memory story. Download Kanjijo free on the App Store

Sooner or later, every learner who knows the kanji 下 notices that ください is almost always printed in hiragana, and then the same thing happens with こと, とき, できる and the みる in 食たべてみる. It is not random: the Japanese government has written the pattern down, and once you know it you can predict most of these spellings.

One rule: kanji for meaning, kana for grammar

A kanji carries a meaning. When a word is used in that meaning, the kanji helps the reader. But many everyday words also lead a second life as grammar. 見みる means “to see”, yet after a て-form it means “to try”. 所ところ is a place, yet 今いまのところ means “so far”. In that second job the meaning of the kanji has gone, and writing it would point the reader in the wrong direction. Kana says: this is grammar, keep reading.

The 2010 directive puts this into practice in section 1(2)キ, a list of words to write in kana “when used as in the examples in brackets”. Most of the bracketed examples are grammar: ことがある, 事故じこのときは, 現在げんざいのところ, 〜てみる, 〜てください. A few very common words (ある, いる, できる, なる, ない) are listed in kana even in their ordinary meaning, and they get their own section below. Every word on the list could be written with jōyō kanji and readings, so the kana is a choice about the job the word does, not a gap in the kanji list.

〜てください and the other helper verbs after て

Put a verb after a て-form and it usually stops meaning what it says. It adds a nuance instead: trying, doing something in advance, finishing, doing a favour. The directive lists most of these helpers in kana. The 2022 guide adds てほしい, and with it the other half of the rule: when the same words describe a real action or state, they keep their kanji.

Two more helpers in the directive's list are kana for the same reason: 〜てしまう (書かいてしまう, to end up writing it) and 〜てあげる (図書としょを貸かしてあげる, to lend someone a book as a favour).

The clearest proof that this is about the job and not the word: the same verb can appear twice in one sentence, once in each spelling.

So when is 下さい right?

ください is a form of くださる, the honorific verb for someone giving something to you. The jōyō table lists the reading くだ-さる under 下, so the kanji itself is perfectly official. The question is only which job the word is doing.

• After a て-form it is a helper, so it is kana. The directive's own example is 問題点もんだいてんを話はなしてください (Please tell us about any problems).
• As a main verb meaning “give”, it describes a real action. The 2022 guide says that when these verbs express an actual action, they are written in kanji, and its example is 贈物おくりものを下くださる (to give a present).

The same split applies to いただく: お土産みやげを頂いただきました (I received a gift) uses kanji, while 来きていただけますか (Could you come?) uses kana. For how くださる, いただく and the other giving verbs fit together, see giving and receiving in Japanese, and for the て-form itself, the complete て-form guide.

こと, とき, ところ, もの: the formal nouns

Formal nouns (形式名詞けいしきめいし) are nouns that have lost their own meaning and work as grammar. They turn a clause into a noun or add a nuance such as “have done”, “so far” or “can't afford to”. The directive's list includes こと, とき, ところ, もの, わけ, ほか and とおり, all in kana. When the same word names something real, the kanji comes back. The 2022 guide gives a practical test: if there is a specific thing, time or place you could point to, use the kanji.

The directive's own examples show how these words sound in an official notice. They are typical N2 reading material:

ある, いる, できる, なる and ない

These five are among the most common words in Japanese, and all of them have kanji spellings: 有ある or 在ある, 居いる, 出来できる, 成なる and 無ない. The directive writes them in kana in their ordinary uses, and the kanji survive in narrower meanings and in compound words.

The 2022 guide explains the kanji cases for ある and ない: kanji is used when the contrast between having and not having is the point, as in 有あり・無なし on a form, or when existence itself is stressed, as in 日本にほんはアジアの東ひがしに在ある (Japan lies in the east of Asia). Likewise, 出来でき means a result or its quality, and 成なる means “to consist of”. Neither is the everyday できる or なる.

Adverbs and conjunctions: two short lists to memorise

Here the meaning test does not help much, and the directive simply gives lists. Most adverbs keep their kanji:

Adverbs written in kanji

Exceptions: adverbs written in kana

Dictionaries do list kanji spellings for some of these, such as 矢張やはり and 可成かなり, but the directive asks for kana, and the 2022 guide puts いろいろ, たくさん and ちょうど on the kana side as well.

Conjunctions go the other way: almost all of them are kana.

Conjunctions written in kana

The meaning-versus-grammar idea reappears here. The 2022 guide pairs several conjunctions with a look-alike word that has full meaning: the verb 従したがう (to follow) is kanji, the conjunction したがって (therefore) is kana; the adverb 更さらに (even more) is kanji, the conjunction さらに (what's more) is kana.

The directive keeps exactly four conjunctions in kanji: 及および (and), 並ならびに (and also), 又または (or) and 若もしくは (or). They are the “and” and “or” of laws, contracts and forms, so you will meet them every time you fill something in: 氏名しめい及および住所じゅうしょを記入きにゅうしてください (Please fill in your name and address). The 2022 guide relaxes this for explanations and public information aimed at the general public, where および and または are acceptable.

Kanji outside the jōyō list: うそ, がん, りんご

The directive's very first rule comes before all of the above: official writing uses only the characters and readings in the 常用漢字表じょうようかんじひょう, the government's list of 2,136 kanji, published in 2010 as a guide for everyday writing. The 2022 guide explains what to do when a word needs a character that is not on the list: write it in kana, rephrase it with a common word, or keep the kanji and add furigana. For everyday words, kana is the usual result.

You can see the kana spelling on real buildings: Japan's national cancer research institute is called 国立こくりつがん研究けんきゅうセンター, with がん in kana. The last row shows a subtler case: the list fixes readings as well as characters, so a jōyō kanji used with an unlisted reading also gives way to kana.

きれい is a borderline case. Its original spelling 綺麗きれい uses 綺, which is not on the list, but dictionaries also give 奇麗きれい, and 奇 (キ) and 麗 (レイ) are both on the list with those readings. So the list alone does not force the kana here. きれい in hiragana is simply the spelling most writers settle on.

Outside official documents

The directive covers documents written by government bodies, and it says itself that it does not apply to proper nouns and may be set aside for specialised terms. Everything else follows its own habits. Novelists, manga artists and songwriters choose freely, and a writer may pick 綺麗 or 嘘 simply for the look on the page. Personal writing adds another factor: when you type kudasai, koto or aru, the conversion software offers 下さい, 事 and 有る among its candidates, and many people accept them.

So 見みて下ください and 楽たのしい事こと are not mistakes. They are simply less standard. For your own writing, the kana spellings in this article are the safe default, because they match the official style and the pattern most textbooks use.

A reading tip: unexpected kana usually means grammar

Turn the rule around when you read. If a common word appears in kana where you expected kanji, it is probably doing grammar, and its dictionary meaning will mislead you.

• 今いまから行いくところです: not a place. It means “I'm just about to go”.
• 一度いちど食たべてみる: not seeing. It means “try eating it once”.
• 財布さいふを忘わすれてしまった: not putting anything away. It means “I went and forgot my wallet”.
• 休やすむわけにはいかない: not a reason. The whole pattern means “can't afford to take time off”.

The reverse works too. When you see the kanji, expect the full meaning: 所ところ is a place you could visit and 物もの is an object you could hold. For more on these patterns, see the 〜ところ family and the 〜わけ family. If you are still sorting out which script does what, start with the three Japanese writing systems.