JLPT N5 Kanji – 毎 – mai

This is 5-Minute Kanji, and today, we are going to go over a microwavable treat of a kanji: the kanji for every.

Mnemonic:
Check out my new MAIcrowave! I use it every day.

Onyomi:

マイ
mai

Kunyomi:

ごと
goto

The onyomi is most often used as a prefix to mean every. In fact, that is pretty much the only time this kanji is used. It is placed before various ‘time’ kanji to mean ‘every X’.

The kunyomi, ごと,  is rarely used. It is mostly reserved for poetry and ancient texts.

Mnemonic Factory

This kanji has a few visual mnemonics. For the main mnemonic, I used a microwave with a grid window pattern, and the arm of the main is the top radical. The bottom part of the kanji can resemble mother – 母, and you can think of the top radical as her beautiful hair. After all, EVERY one has a mother. Other visual mnemonics can be a hand on top of a head, maybe combing it or adjusting it. Every morning, I comb MAI hair. Finally, you can think of a strange square turntable with the top radical being the arm with the needle on it.

For onyomi, マイ, there are a good number of words with a similar sound. You can of course use ‘my’, but it isn’t that concrete. It’s generally better to use something visual like mice – MAIce. You can also use MAInd (mind) or what I used MAIcrowave. You can also use King MAIdas, which could lead to some creative mnemonics. After all, EVERYthing MAIdas touches turns to gold.

Example Words

How about a few example words where this kanji is used?

Onyomi
The most common use of 毎 with the reading マイ is as a prefix. You can place it in front of different ‘time’ words to mean ‘every X’. Some of the more common ones are 毎日 (every day), 毎年 (every year), 毎月 (every month), 毎週 (every week), and 毎朝 (every morning). At higher levels, you have 毎度 and 毎回, which can both mean every time.

Commonly confused with

Story Review

Can you remember the story from the beginning? Let’s give it a try and yell out the words that are missing.

Check out my new ___crowave! I use it _____ day.

Perfect? Let’s give it another try.

Check out my new ___crowave! I use it _____ day.

Word Review

Can you read these? I’ll give you the kanji and please yell out the reading for each word

毎日

毎月

毎年

毎週

毎朝

That’s it for the kanji for every. Please let me know in the comments below if you have any questions. If you’d like to learn more kanji, hit the subscribe button and hit the bell mark to get a notification every time I send out a new video. Also, be sure to check out my other 5 Minute Kanji videos.