水 means “water”

Watch: Gen and Shibamaru learn 水

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Where 水 comes from

水 is a picture of flowing water: a main stream in the middle with splashes on both sides.

Stroke order (4 strokes)

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4

Words with 水

• 

  水みず

  MIZU

  water

• 

  水曜日すいようび

  SUIYOUBI

  Wednesday

• 

  お水おみず

  OMIZU

  water (polite)

• 

  水道すいどう

  SUIDOU

  tap water

The part of each word written with 水 is shown in orange. Audio: the readings from our video.

Reading tips

• お水 (OMIZU) is the polite way to say "water." You will hear it a lot at restaurants.
• 水 is read すい (SUI) in 水曜日 and 水道 (SUIDOU, tap water).
• 水 is cold or room-temperature water. Hot water has its own word: お湯 (OYU).

In the video

• Genお水 ください！Water, please!
• Shibamaruおみせで つかえるねHandy to say at restaurants!

Example sentences

• お水 ください。

  OMIZU KUDASAI.

  Water, please.

• 水曜日は いそがしいです。

  SUIYOUBI WA ISOGASHII DESU.

  I am busy on Wednesday.

Keep learning kanji

• GENKI I Textbook (3rd Edition)

  Beginner

  A popular first textbook used in many university courses. Each lesson has a dialogue, grammar explanations in English, and plenty of practice.

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• Japanese from Zero! 1

  Absolute beginner

  Starts from zero. Romaji is replaced by hiragana as you learn each one, so you are reading kana before you know it.

  View on Amazon