Okurigana 送り仮名

okurigana · from Japanese

What is okurigana?

Okurigana are hiragana written after a kanji stem to show inflection and help indicate the reading, as in 食べる taberu.

Japanese verbs and adjectives conjugate, but kanji do not, so the changing endings are written in kana. Okurigana also distinguish readings: 上がる agaru and 上る noboru use the same kanji. Official rules govern where the kanji stops and the kana begin.

Examples

食べる taberu (eat) / 食べた tabeta (ate); 高い takai (expensive) / 高くない takakunai; 上がる agaru vs 上る noboru

Kungfucius says: The kanji gives you the meaning; the okurigana tells you what tense you are in trouble with.