Nihongo

Classroom

How to say "Youth" in Japanese

If you are wondering what's the Japanese word for "Youth" you've come to the right place!

the Japanese word for "Youth" is "Seinen", written in japanese as "青年".

Here's a more detailed explanation:

The Japanese noun '青年 (せいねん)' refers to a young adult, someone who is in the prime of their life, usually between the ages of 20-40. It can be used to describe young people in general, or specifically young men. The term has a positive connotation, suggesting vitality, energy and potential. For example: The youth of today will shape the future of our country - (今日の青年が国の未来を形作るだろう).

The Kanji are characters that represent meanings. As you can see, this word is made up of 2 Kanji:

The kanji "青" means "Blue" and can be read as "Ao", "Shou" and "Sei". And The kanji "年" means "Year" and can be read as "Nen" and "Toshi".

Now, let's make sure you understand this word the other way around too.

What does "Seinen" mean in japanese?

"Seinen" means "Youth" .

To learn more about the kanji in this word, checkout this pages:

What is the Kanji for blue?What is the Kanji for year?

If you also want to learn how to write this word in Japanese, you can checkout this page:

How to write "Youth" in Japanese

To make really sure you learn this word, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this word and of the characters that comprise it.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "あ" is read as "a". The hiragana "お" is read as "o". The hiragana "し" is read as "shi". The hiragana "う" is read as "u". The hiragana "せ" is read as "se". The hiragana "い" is read as "i". The hiragana "ね" is read as "ne". The hiragana "ん" is read as "n". And The hiragana "と" is read as "to".

About kanji, you need to know that most Kanji have two types of readings: Kunyomi, based on native japanese pronunciation. And onyomi, based on chinese pronunciation.