Kanji? Hiragana? Katakana?

Question

I just want to know usually Japanese people use Kanji, Hiragana or Katakana? Which one is the most popular? If they're using three of them now, then do Japanese students have to study all of them? I've seen a few Kanji words and their meanings are almost the same as Chinese, are they actually the same?

*Thanks for your answer*

Answer 1

Hiragana and katakana are japanese.... Kanji are chinese characters

Ktakana are used for loan words

there are about 1000 Kanji that some pupils must learn depending on what stage ...

Answer 2

Japanese people use all three alphabet systems. Hiragana are the basic letters for all Japanese sounds, this is the first writing system you learn as a student, next comes katakana which has the same number of letters and correspond to the same sounds in hiragana, some of the letters look similar e.g. か in hirigana and　カ in katakana. Katakana is used to spell words that of foreign origin like computer, コンプター.

When reading everyday Japanese you will come across all three intermingled within one text, Kanji are often used in conjunction with hirigana where the kanji character makes up the root of the word and the hirigana will show which use of the verb it is, for example the tense, 'hanasu' to talk (話す）this can be considered as the infinitive, 'hanashimashita' talked (話しました) past tense.

Some Kanji do sound and mean similar in Chinese, but for the most part many Kanji were used in Japanese for their pronunciation not meaning. So when I was living in Japan I could be reading a sign and recognise some of the characters as I speak Chinese but I would be at a loss to their meaning in context with the Japanese I could read, because their usage seemed so out of place, this amused my Japanese colleagues no end! But then sometimes my Chinese skills did help when the meanings were similar and I could try to guess their pronunciation and meaning. So to sum up, not all Kanji are the same as in Chinese.

Answer 3

everyone already answered this well, but I'll clarify... Japanese students first learn hiragan, then katakana. Hiragana is used at first in elementary and then they start learning kanji little by little each year (actually learning a lot, they have to learn tons of kanji... but it takes several years). (chinese children start leaving kanji from elementary school by the way). Some kanji usage is taken straight from chinese words, but with different readings/pronunciations. Sometimes the meaning is even different. For example, if I remember correctly the kanji for "hello" in chinese is something like the kanji for "like" in japanese. Other kanji have been adapted and are mixed with hiragana to make a word throughout the language.
To read a news paper you need them all. To read a young child's book or a simple Japanese textbook hiragana is good enough. To read labels in Japan of Foreign goods and products, you need katakana, haha.

Answer 4

im a student learning japanese and yes i have to learn all three. Kanji is exactly the same as chinese except they r pronounce differently. Kanji is used for every word...Katakana is used for foreign words like chocolate and hiragana is used for verb endings and subject particles. Yes i know it is really confusing ^_^

Answer 5

Katakana is used mainly with foreign words. Kanji is used most often. Hirgana is used for different grammatical reasons and for kids stories and to help sound out kanji.

Answer 6

All forms are used.