What is the Kanji for "Expense"?

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

The Japanese Kanji for "Expense" is "費".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its kunyomi reading is "Tsui".

Its onyomi reading is "Hi".

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 component "弗" . And The kanji "貝" means "Shellfish" and can be read as "Bai" and "Kai".

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

What does the kanji "費" mean in japanese?

"費" means "Expense".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Fourth Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N3 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

交通費: "Travel expenses". The Japanese noun '交通費 (こうつうひ)' refers to the expenses incurred by a person when traveling, such as the cost of transportation, fares, or fees. This word is commonly used in business contexts when reimbursing employees for work-related travel. For example: I submitted my travel expenses for the business trip - (出張の交通費を請求しました). The company covers our travel expenses - (会社が交通費を負担してくれます).

費: "Cost" or "Expense". The Japanese suffix '費 (ひ)' is used to indicate a cost or expense related to something. It can be attached to nouns to form words such as 運搬費 (うんぱんひ) meaning 'transportation cost' or 旅行費 (りょこうひ) meaning 'travel expense'. This suffix is commonly used in Japanese to express the monetary costs associated with various activities or items. For example: Travel expense - (旅行費). I need to pay the rent and other monthly expenses - (家賃と他の月々の費用を払わなければなりません).

費用: "Cost". The Japanese noun '費用 (ひよう)' means 'cost'. This word refers to the money that is required or spent in order to purchase or accomplish something. It can be used to talk about the total expenses involved in a project, activity or purchase. For example: The cost of the trip was high - (旅行の費用は高かった). The costs of running the business are increasing - (事業の費用がますます増えている).

国費: "Government funds". The Japanese noun '国費 (こくひ)' refers to government or state funds. It is used to describe money that is allocated from the national budget or treasury for specific purposes, such as funding for public projects, education, or social services. For example: The government used national funds to build the new hospital - (国費を使って新しい病院を建設した). The university receives government funds for research - (大学は研究のために国費を受け取っている).

食費: "Food expenses". The Japanese noun '食費 (しょくひ)' refers to the money spent on food, meals, and groceries. It is commonly used when discussing household budgeting and the costs associated with feeding oneself or one's family. For example: Our food expenses this month were high - (この月の食費が高かった). She needs to budget more for her food expenses - (彼女はもっと食費の予算を組む必要がある).

私費: "Private funds". The noun '私費 (しひ)' refers to personal or private funds, as opposed to public or organizational funds. It is used to describe money spent from one's own personal resources, rather than from an official budget or account. For example: I paid for it out of my private funds - (それは私の私費から支払いました).

消費: "Consumption". The Japanese verbal noun '消費 (しょうひ)' means 'consumption'. It refers to the act of using up a resource or good, especially in the economic sense of purchasing and using products. It can describe the consumption of various items such as food, energy, or materials. For example: Reducing consumption is important for the environment - (消費を減らすことは環境にとって重要です). The country's energy consumption has increased - (その国のエネルギー消費は増加している).

学費: "Tuition". The Japanese noun '学費 (がくひ)' refers to the tuition or fees that must be paid for educational services, such as attending a school, university or other educational institution. This money is required to cover the costs of instruction, facilities, and other expenses related to the education being provided. For example: The tuition for that university is very high - (その大学の学費はとてもたかい). I need to pay my tuition soon - (私はすぐ学費を払わなければならない).

消費者: "Consumer". The Japanese noun '消費者 (しょうひしゃ)' refers to a person who buys and uses products or services. Consumers are the end users of goods and services produced by businesses and industries. They play a crucial role in the economy by driving demand and influencing the supply of products. For example: The store is trying to attract more consumers - (この店は消費者をひきつけたいと思っている). Consumers today are more concerned about sustainability - (現代の消費者はより持続可能性に関心がある).

経費: "Expenses". The Japanese noun '経費 (けいひ)' refers to expenses or costs incurred in the operation of a business or organization. It includes items such as rent, utilities, supplies, and other overhead costs. This word is commonly used in accounting and financial contexts. For example: The company's monthly expenses are high - (その会社の毎月の経費は高い). We need to reduce expenses - (経費を削減する必要がある).

費やす: "Spend" or "Use up". The Japanese verb '費やす (ついやす)' means 'to spend' or 'to use up'. This verb is used to describe the action of using time, money, or resources on a particular activity or purpose. It implies that the resource being spent is being depleted or reduced. For example: I spent a lot of time studying for the exam - (試験の勉強に時間を費やした). He used up all his money on new clothes - (新しい服に全ての金を費やしてしまった).

旅費: "Travel expenses". The Japanese noun '旅費 (りょひ)' refers to the costs or money spent on traveling, such as the costs of transportation, accommodation, and other expenses related to a trip. It is commonly used to describe the budget or funds allocated for a business trip or personal vacation. For example: The company will cover my travel expenses for the conference - (会社は会議の旅費を払ってくれる). I need to budget my travel expenses carefully for this trip - (この旅行の旅費を慎重に予算する必要がある).

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 "ひ" is read as "hi". The hiragana "つ" is read as "tsu". And The hiragana "い" is read as "i".

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.