What is the Kanji for "Decrease"?

If you are wondering what is the Japanese Kanji for "Decrease", you've come to the right place!

The Japanese Kanji for "Decrease" is "減".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its kunyomi reading is "He".

Its onyomi reading is "Gen".

kunyomi readings are based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words, and onyomi readings are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character.

If you visually breakdown this kanji, you can see is made up of 2 parts:

The radical "氵" means "Water" . And The radical "咸" means "Same" .

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

What does the kanji "減" mean in japanese?

"減" means "Decrease".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Fifth Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N2 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

減る: "Decrease". The Japanese verb '減る (へる)' means 'to decrease'. This verb is used to indicate that the quantity, amount, or degree of something is becoming less. It can be used with both concrete and abstract nouns. For example: The number of customers is decreasing - (お客さんの数が減っている). My debt has decreased - (私の借金が減った).

減少: "Decrease". The Japanese verbal noun '減少 (げんしょう)' means 'decrease'. This noun refers to a reduction or lessening of something, such as the amount, number, or intensity of an object or phenomenon. It can be used to describe a decline in population, sales, or any measurable quantity. For example: The number of customers has decreased - (客の数が減少した). There has been a decrease in prices - (価格が減少した).

加減: "Balance" or "Moderation". The noun '加減 (かげん)' refers to a sense of balance, proportion or moderation. It can describe the right amount or degree of something, the right proportion between elements. '加減' is used to express the idea of striking the right balance, not going to extremes. For example: You need to have the right balance/moderation - (加減が大切だ). He adjusted the seasoning with the right proportion - (調味料の加減をうまくしていた).

いい加減: "Casual" or "Careless". The Japanese adjectival noun 'いい加減 (いいかげん)' has two main meanings. The first meaning is 'casual', referring to an informal, relaxed, or nonchalant attitude or approach. For example: He has a casual attitude towards his work - (彼の仕事に対するいい加減な態度). The second meaning is 'careless', indicating a lack of proper care, attention or seriousness. For example: She was careless with her studies - (彼女の学習にはいい加減だった).

削減: "Cut" or "Reduce". The Japanese verbal noun '削減 (さくげん)' means 'to cut' or 'to reduce'. This term is used to describe the act of decreasing the amount, size, or number of something. It can be applied to various contexts such as costs, expenditures, staff, or other resources. For example: The company aims to reduce costs - (会社は費用を削減することを目指している). We need to cut back on our spending - (我々はコストを削減する必要がある).

減らす: "Reduce". The Japanese verb '減らす (へらす)' means 'to reduce'. It is used to indicate the action of making something smaller in amount, size, or degree. For example: I reduced the amount of sugar in my tea - (私はお茶の中の砂糖の量を減らした). Let's reduce the price - (価格を減らそう).

増減: "Increase/decrease". The verbal noun '増減 (ぞうげん)' refers to the action or process of increasing or decreasing in amount or number. It can be used to describe changes in various metrics or quantities, such as population, sales, or production levels. For example: The population increase and decrease - (人口の増減). The store saw a decrease in sales - (店の売上が減った).

To make really sure you learn this Kanji, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this kanji.

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 "げ" is read as "ge". The hiragana "ん" is read as "n". And The hiragana "へ" is read as "he".

Heres a quick tutorial on how to use it. You'll be asked three type of questions: meaning, reading, and writing.

For meanings questions all you have to do is type the english meaning. If there is more than one meaning, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Reading questions you have to type the reading in romaji (roman letters, our normal alphabet) and it'll be automatically converted to hiragana if necessary. If there is more than one reading, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Writing questions some options will appear and all you have to do is select the correct ones.