I don't talk about it too much in daily lessons, but I love kanji.

What a nerd thing to say, right?

But there is something that has always thrilled me about learning a language that has such crisp, neat building blocks.

Sure, we have building blocks in English, too. Only problem is, they're a mess--words have origins in French, Latin, Greek, German, etc.

In Japanese though, we get to play with kanji!

So today I want to look at just a minute sampling of word pairs that thrill and fascinate me.

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First, let's look at these two words:

入る ／ 病院
はいる ／ びょういん
to enter ／ hospital

For example, we could say:

部屋に入った。
へや　に　はいった。
She entered the room.
Literally: "room + に + entered."

Or, if we're worried about a loved one, we might say:

病院行きなよ。
びょういん　いきなよ。
Go to the doctor [hospital].
Literally: "hospital + go + よ."
Note: We looked at this grammar function (～なよ) back in Lessons #48 and#49.

But what happens when we combine these words?

入る＋病院

I think guessing won't be too hard...

入る＋病院＝入院

入院
にゅういん
hospitalization

入院したことある？
にゅういん　した　こと　ある？
Have you ever been hospitalized?
Literally: "hospitalization + have done [=did + thing + there is]?"

And then we can go a step further, and look at some other words that take use 入‐（にゅう‐）as their first kanji...

入学
にゅうがく
entry to school or university

入学試験
にゅうがく　しけん
entrance examination

入場
にゅうじょう
entrance; admission

入隊
にゅうたい
enlistment

入浴
にゅうよく
bathing [=entering a bath]

I often get emails from readers saying that they're overwhelmed trying to learn the different readings for the kanji. Usually I say not to worry about it, though. As we can see from this one example, typically readings will be repeated in so many words, we can learn them naturally.

That's what I did, at least.

Let's look at another combo...

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This might be one of my favorite kanji combos of all time.

Here are two words:

動く ／ 物
うごく ／ もの
to move ／ thing

Example #1:

動かないで。
うごかないで。
Don't move.

Example #2:

いい物見せてあげる。
いい　もの　みせて　あげる。
I'll show you something cool.
Literally: "good + thing + show (and) + give (you)."

Now let's combine them!

動く＋物

Any guesses? How about...

動く＋物＝動物

動物
どうぶつ
animal

Animals are moving things, yeah? Makes total sense.

動物大好き！
どうぶつ　だいすき！
I love animals!
Literally: "animals + loving!"

And what's a moving picture?

動画
どうが
video

And what's a self-moving car?

自動車
じどうしゃ
automobile; vehicle

And what kinds of "things" do you "plant?" Uh, well...

植物
しょくぶつ
plants; vegetation

Or how about the "logic of things?"

物理
ぶつり
physics

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Now let's make a new kanji combo. (← Bad pun.)

新しい ／ 作る
あたらしい ／ つくる
new ／ to make; to create

Who doesn't love new stuff?

新しいドレス欲しい。
あたらしい　ドレス　ほしい。
I want a new dress.
Literally: "new + dress + wanting."

And who doesn't love making stuff?

アクセサリーを作るのが好きです。
アクセサリー　を　つくる　の　が　すき　です。
I like making my own accessories.
Literally: "accessories + を + make + のが + liking + です."

And what happens when we combine making new stuff?

新しい ＋ 作る

Why, that would leave us with...

新しい ＋ 作る ＝ 新作

新作
しんさく
new work; new production

One wonderful type of "new production" is... a new video game!

モンハンの新作買った？
モンハン　の　しんさく　かった？
Did you buy the new Monster Hunter?
Literally: "Monster Hunter + の + new production + bought?"

And what if we have a new-entering-raw (thing)? Well that'd be a...

新入生
しんにゅうせい
first-year student(s); new student(s)

Or what if we "make" a "good?" That'd be a...

作品
さくひん
work (e.g. book, film, etc.); production

Or what if we "make" a "song?"

作曲
さっきょく
(musical) composition

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I'd love to provide you with an exhaustive list of all of the enlightening kanji combos out there, but I'm pretty sure doing so would take me years.

Instead, I hope you can just look forward to uncovering more combos like these in the coming years of your studies. I'm not sure why, but there is something so thrilling about finding new combos out there in the wild forests of the language.

Have fun!