JLPT N5 Kanji – 月 – gatsu, getsu, tsuki

This is 5-Minute Kanji, and today, we will go over a gutsy kanji: the kanji for moon or month.

Mnemonic:
It takes GUTS to go through the GATES, locked with TWO KEYS, to the magical MOON.

Onyomi:

ガツ、ゲツ
gatsu, getsu

Kunyomi:

つき
tsuki

The kanji 月 is a fairly basic kanji that resembles a crescent moon. It is most commonly used in calendar months, which are pretty simple in Japanese. You say the number plus 月. There are a few things to look out for, such as April being しがつ and not よんがつ. Also, July is しちがつ and not なながつ, usually.

The second most common reading is げつ. It is used in the counter for months like 一ヶ月いっかげつ, 二ヶ月にかげつ, etc… You can also see it in month-related compounds like 毎月まいげつ and 月末げつまつ.

Finally, the least common reading is つき, which is the word for the moon. It is used in some other expressions like 一月ひとつき, a moon (ago), as well, but they are relatively rare. The only word that uses this reading that you need to know for the N5 is 月つき.

Mnemonic Factory

The 月 kanji is a pretty basic one. You can imagine it as a crescent moon with clouds across it. Another way is to imagine a moon rising behind a torii gate in Japan. Just don’t get it confused with 日, which is very similar looking.

How about sounds? What are some English words that sound similar to the readings for this kanji?

For the onyomi ガツ, we can use GUTS, GOTS, or, with some twisting, GAS. For the ゲツ reading, we can use GATES or perhaps GUESTS. So, how about “I GOTS GUESTS” or “I turned on the GAS for the GUESTS.”

For kunyomi, we only have つき, which sounds similar to COOKIE, TURKEY, or what I used – TWO KEYS. So, how about my “GUESTS ate so much TURKEY, they got terrible GAS.”

Example Words

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

Onyomi

Let’s take a look at some of the most common words that use 月:

• １月（いちがつ） “January”
• ４月（しがつ） “April”
• ７月（しちがつ） “July”
• 一ヶ月（いっかげつ） “a month (time period)”
• 毎月（まいげつ） “every month”
• 月よう日（げつようび） “Monday”

Kunyomi

Let’s take a look at some of the most common words that use 月:

• 月（つき） “moon”

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.

It takes ____ to go through the _____, locked with ________, to the magical ____.

Perfect? Let’s give it another try.

It takes ____ to go through the _____, locked with ________, to the magical ____.

Word Review

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

１月

４月

７月

一ヶ月

毎月

月よう日

That’s it for the kanji for moon or month. 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.