JLPT N5 Kanji – 生 – sei, ikiru, umareru, nama

This is 5-Minute Kanji, and today, we will go over a vital, life-giving kanji: the kanji for life, birth, or raw—生.

Mnemonic:
UU MAn, that is ICKy food, and SEI it’s good? Eat it? NA MAn, not on my LIFE.

Onyomi:

セイ、ショウ
sei,       shou

Kunyomi:

い.きる、い.かす、う.まれる、なま
i.kiru,         i.kasu,       u.mareru,   nama

• 
• 
• 
• 

I personally use all of these on a daily basis and highly recommend them.

The kanji 生 is made up of a few simple strokes, but it carries the immense meaning of life, growth, and birth. Originally, it depicted a plant sprouting from the ground—notice the bottom horizontal line as the soil, and the vertical line as the stem shooting upwards. Over time, it evolved into the stylized kanji we use today.

Onyomi readings are commonly seen in compounds. セイ shows up in words like 先生せんせい (teacher, literally “born earlier” or “preceding life”), and 学生がくせい (student, “learning life”). The reading ショウ is less frequent, often appearing in more advanced compounds.

Kunyomi readings are intuitive: いきる is “to live,” いかす is “to make use of” or “bring to life,” うまれる is “to be born,” and なま is “raw” or “fresh,” like raw fish or fresh vegetables.

Mnemonic Factory

The stICKy pUMA ANOMAlly SEInt us on the adventure of a LIFEtime

When forming mnemonics, think of the bottom line as the ground or soil, and the vertical stroke as life sprouting up. The top horizontal stroke can be the sun shining down, giving energy to grow. This makes it easier to remember 生 as representing life or birth.

For sounds, セイ could be associated with SAY or SAFE, something you shout to announce life. ショウ might remind you of SHOW or SHOWtime—the birth of performance, if you like. For kunyomi, いきる is easy: “I KIRu!” (I kill aka end ::life). うまれる, literally “to be born,” can be imagined as a woman named UMA, giving birth, pUMA can also be used, or OOMph, as in the sound you make when hit in the stomach, in a stretch. And なま can be tied to NAME—like fresh produce with a name tag or even the sound you make when eating a lot of delicious food – namanama or even ANOMAlly, as in something not normally seen or found in science.

Example Words

Onyomi

• 先生（せんせい） “teacher”
• 学生（がくせい） “student”
• 生命（せいめい） “life”*

*Not N5

Kunyomi

• 生きる（いきる） “to live”
• 生まれる（うまれる） “to be born”
• 生かす（いかす） “to make use of, bring to life”*
• 生（なま） “raw, fresh”

* Not N5

Commonly confused with

Story Review

Can you remember the story from the beginning? Let’s give it a try:

__ __n, that is ___y food, and ___ it’s good? Eat it? __ __n, not on my ____.

Perfect? One more time:

__ __n, that is ___y food, and ___ it’s good? Eat it? __ __n, not on my ____.

Word Review

Can you read these? Yell out the reading for each word:

先生
学生
生命
生きる
生まれる
生かす
生

That’s it for the kanji for life, birth, and raw. Keep practicing and remember: every stroke sprouts life!