家庭・育児

夫おっとと協力きょうりょくして育児いくじをしている。

My husband and I share the childcare.

Usage 育児 = raising a child, the official word: 育児休業 (parental leave), 育児書. 子育て is the warmer everyday equivalent.

Remember it 育 (to raise) + 児 (child) → raising the child.

子育こそだてをしながら働はたらくのは大変たいへんだ。

Working while raising children is hard.

Usage 子育て = raising children, in everyday speech: 子育て中, 子育て支援. Official documents prefer 育児.

Remember it 子 (child) + 育てる (to raise) → the plain Japanese way of saying 育児.

姉あねは妊娠にんしん五ごか月げつだ。

My older sister is five months pregnant.

Usage 妊娠 = pregnancy: 妊娠する, 妊娠中. A pregnant woman is a 妊婦, and the badge worn on trains is the マタニティマーク.

Remember it Both 妊 and 娠 are built on 女 — the body that carries the child.

出生しゅっしょう率りつが年々ねんねん下さがっている。

The birth rate is falling year by year.

Usage 出生 = birth as a legal or statistical fact: 出生率 (birth rate), 出生届 (birth registration), 出生地. Also read しゅっせい.

Remember it 出 (to come out) + 生 (life) → life coming out into the world.

新生児しんせいじは一日いちにち中じゅう寝ねている。

Newborns sleep all day long.

Usage 新生児 = a baby in its first 28 days, a medical term. After that come 乳児, then 幼児.

Remember it 新 (new) + 生 (born) + 児 (child) → the newly born child.

乳児にゅうじを連つれて買かい物ものに行いく。

I take the baby with me when I go shopping.

Usage 乳児 = an infant under one, still on milk (乳). 乳幼児 covers babies and toddlers together — you see it on public signs.

Remember it 乳 (milk) + 児 (child) → the child still on milk.

幼児ようじ向むけの番組ばんぐみを見みせている。

I let them watch programmes made for small children.

Usage 幼児 = a child from one to six, before school: 幼児教育, 幼稚園. The adjective 幼い means young or childish.

Remember it 幼 (young) + 児 (child) → past milk, not yet at school.

この公園こうえんは児童じどうが安全あんぜんに遊あそべる。

Children can play safely in this park.

Usage 児童 = a child of primary-school age, the official word: 児童館, 児童文学, 児童虐待. From middle school on, schools say 生徒.

Remember it 児 (child) + 童 (youngster) → two child characters, making the formal term.

思春期ししゅんきの子こどもとの会話かいわは難むずかしい。

Talking with a child going through adolescence is hard.

Usage 思春期 = puberty and adolescence: 思春期を迎える. The 反抗期 usually arrives with it.

Remember it 思 (to long for) + 春 (spring) + 期 (period) → the season when the heart starts longing.

息子むすこは今いま反抗期はんこうきで何なにを言いっても聞きかない。

My son is in his rebellious phase and won't listen to anything.

Usage 反抗期 = the rebellious phase: 第一反抗期 comes at about two, 第二反抗期 in the teens. The verb is 反抗する.

Remember it 反抗 (to push back) + 期 (period) → the period of pushing back.

家いえでの食事しょくじのしつけは大切たいせつだ。

Table manners taught at home matter.

Usage しつけ = training a child in manners and habits: しつけが厳しい (strictly brought up). The kanji 躾 exists but is rarely used.

Remember it Not punishment but shaping — habits that stick. It is usually left in kana, softening the word.

子こどもを叱しかるときは理由りゆうを説明せつめいする。

When I scold my child, I explain the reason.

Usage 叱る = to scold with cause, as a parent or teacher does. 怒る is simply losing your temper — Japanese parenting books say 叱る、怒るな.

Remember it 口 (mouth) on the left: words delivered sharply, but as correction rather than temper.

出産しゅっさんのために妻つまが里帰さとがえりした。

My wife has gone back to her parents' home for the birth.

Usage 里帰り = returning to your parents' home, especially a wife going home to give birth (里帰り出産) or at New Year.

Remember it 里 (your home village) + 帰り (returning) → going back to where you came from.

離婚りこんのとき親権しんけんが問題もんだいになった。

Custody became the sticking point in the divorce.

Usage 親権 = legal parental authority: 親権を持つ, 親権を争う. Japanese law has generally given it to one parent rather than both.

Remember it 親 (parent) + 権 (right) → the parent's legal rights over the child.

妻つまを扶養ふよう家族かぞくとして申告しんこくする。

I declare my wife as a dependant.

Usage 扶養 = supporting a dependant, a tax and insurance word: 扶養家族, 扶養控除 (dependant deduction), 扶養に入る.

Remember it 扶 (to prop up) + 養 (to nourish) → propping someone up and feeding them.

親おやからの仕送しおくりで生活せいかつしている。

I live on the allowance my parents send me.

Usage 仕送り = money sent regularly to family — parents to a student, or a worker home to their parents: 仕送りをする.

Remember it 仕 (to do, to serve) + 送り (sending) → sending money so someone else can get by.

四十よんじゅうになっても独身どくしんのままだ。

Still single, even at forty.

Usage 独身 = unmarried, in everyday speech: 独身生活, 独身寮 (a company dorm for single staff). Forms use 未婚 instead.

Remember it 独 (alone) + 身 (body) → one body, on its own.

既婚きこんか未婚みこんかを書かく欄らんがある。

There's a box to say whether you're married or single.

Usage 既婚 = already married, used on forms and in surveys: 既婚者. Its pair is 未婚. The same 既 gives 既に (already).

Remember it 既 (already) + 婚 (marriage) → the marriage has already happened.

未婚みこんの人ひとが増ふえている。

The number of unmarried people is rising.

Usage 未婚 = not yet married, the word used on forms; 独身 is the everyday one. 未 = not yet, as in 未定 and 未成年.

Remember it 未 (not yet) + 婚 (marriage) → marriage hasn't happened yet.

二人ふたりは去年きょねんの冬ふゆに婚約こんやくした。

The two of them got engaged last winter.

Usage 婚約 = engagement: 婚約者 (fiancé or fiancée), 婚約指輪 (engagement ring), 婚約を破棄する (to break it off).

Remember it 婚 (marriage) + 約 (promise) → the promise to marry.

披露宴ひろうえんには百人ひゃくにん招まねいた。

We invited a hundred people to the reception.

Usage 披露宴 = the wedding reception that follows the ceremony (結婚式): 披露宴に招待する. The after-party is the 二次会.

Remember it 披露 (to present, to unveil) + 宴 (banquet) → the banquet where the couple is presented.

新婚しんこん旅行りょこうでハワイに行いった。

We went to Hawaii on our honeymoon.

Usage 新婚 = newly married, roughly the first year: 新婚旅行 (honeymoon), 新婚生活, 新婚さん.

Remember it 新 (new) + 婚 (marriage) → the marriage is still new.

今いまは別居べっきょしているが離婚りこんはしていない。

We're living apart now, but we aren't divorced.

Usage 別居 = living separately, whether for work or as a step towards divorce: 別居中. Living together is 同居.

Remember it 別 (separate) + 居 (to live) → living separately.

父ちちは大阪おおさかに単身赴任たんしんふにんしている。

My father has moved to Osaka for work and left the family behind.

Usage 単身赴任 = taking a posting without the family, very common in Japan when the children shouldn't change schools: 単身赴任中.

Remember it 単身 (alone) + 赴任 (taking up a post) → taking up the post on your own.

正月しょうがつは毎年まいとし実家じっかに帰かえる。

I go back to my parents' house every New Year.

Usage 実家 = the home you grew up in, where your parents live: 実家に帰る, 実家暮らし. The home you keep yourself is 自宅.

Remember it 実 (real) + 家 (home) → your 'real' home, whatever your address is now.

義父ぎふは釣つりが趣味しゅみだ。

My father-in-law's hobby is fishing.

Usage 義 marks a relation by marriage: 義父, 義母, 義兄, 義理の両親. To his face you still say お父さん.

Remember it 義 (by relation, in name) + 父 (father) → a father by marriage, not by blood.

義母ぎぼに料理りょうりを教おしえてもらった。

My mother-in-law taught me to cook.

Usage 義母 = mother-in-law or stepmother, the neutral written word. 姑 is specifically the husband's mother, and carries baggage.

Remember it 義 (by relation) + 母 (mother) → a mother by marriage.

姑しゅうとめとの関係かんけいは悪わるくない。

I get on all right with my mother-in-law.

Usage 姑 = the husband's mother in the old family sense. 嫁姑問題 — friction between wife and mother-in-law — is a whole genre of Japanese drama.

Remember it 女 (woman) + 古 (old) → the older woman of the household.

兄あにの嫁よめは看護師かんごしだ。

My brother's wife is a nurse.

Usage 嫁 = the bride who marries into the family. Some men use it of their own wife, which sounds old-fashioned or rough; 妻 is the safe word.

Remember it 女 (woman) + 家 (house) → in the old view, the woman who enters the house.

娘むすめの婿むこは医者いしゃだ。

My daughter's husband is a doctor.

Usage 婿 = son-in-law, the pair to 嫁: 婿養子 is a son-in-law adopted into the wife's family, taking its surname.

Remember it Written with the 女 radical too — the man defined by the marriage he entered.

家いえと土地とちを相続そうぞくした。

I inherited the house and the land.

Usage 相続 = legal inheritance: 相続税 (inheritance tax), 遺産相続, 相続人 (heir).

Remember it 相 (one to another) + 続 (to continue) → property continuing from one generation to the next.

祖父そふは遺言ゆいごんを残のこしていた。

My grandfather had left a will.

Usage 遺言 = a will: 遺言書 (the document), 遺言を残す. Read ゆいごん in speech, いごん in legal language.

Remember it 遺 (to leave behind) + 言 (words) → the words you leave behind.

お盆ぼんに家族かぞくで墓参はかまいりに行いった。

We went as a family to visit the grave at Obon.

Usage 墓参り = visiting a grave to clean it and leave flowers, done at お盆 and the equinoxes (お彼岸): 墓参りに行く.

Remember it 墓 (grave) + 参り (a respectful visit) → the same 参り as in 初詣.

日曜日にちようびに祖母そぼの法事ほうじがある。

There's a memorial service for my grandmother on Sunday.

Usage 法事 = a Buddhist memorial service held at set intervals after a death: 一周忌 (first anniversary), 三回忌. Relatives gather and a priest chants.

Remember it 法 (the Buddhist dharma) + 事 (an occasion) → the occasion at which the sutras are read.

夫おっとが半年はんとし育休いくきゅうを取とった。

My husband took six months of parental leave.

Usage 育休 = childcare leave, short for 育児休業: 育休を取る. Japanese fathers are entitled to it, though not many take it.

Remember it 育児 (childcare) + 休業 (leave), each clipped to its first character.

産休さんきゅうに入はいる前まえに仕事しごとを引ひき継ついだ。

I handed over my work before going on maternity leave.

Usage 産休 = maternity leave: six weeks before the birth and eight after. 育休 picks up where it ends.

Remember it 出産 (childbirth) + 休業 (leave) → leave for the birth itself, while 育休 covers the years after.

電気代でんきだいが上あがって家計かけいが苦くるしい。

Electricity has gone up and money is tight at home.

Usage 家計 = the household budget: 家計簿 (the household account book, a Japanese institution), 家計が苦しい, 家計を助ける.

Remember it 家 (household) + 計 (to reckon) → the household's arithmetic.

書類しょるいに世帯主せたいぬしの名前なまえを書かく。

You write the head of the household's name on the form.

Usage 世帯 = a household as an official unit: 一世帯, 世帯数, 二世帯住宅. 世帯主 is whoever is registered as its head.

Remember it 世帯 (household) + 主 (head) → the name at the top of the household register.

若わかい選手せんしゅの育成いくせいに力ちからを入いれている。

They are putting real effort into developing young players.

Usage 育成 = deliberately developing people or things: 人材育成 (talent development), 育成選手. For your own children, use 育児.

Remember it 育 (to raise) + 成 (to bring to completion) → raising something until it is fully formed.

保護者ほごしゃ会かいは来月らいげつ開ひらかれる。

The parents' meeting will be held next month.

Usage 保護者 = a parent or guardian, the word schools use: 保護者会, 保護者同伴 (accompanied by an adult).

Remember it 保護 (to protect) + 者 (person) → the person responsible for protecting the child.