JLPT N5
Okurigana Explained: Rules, Examples and Exceptions
By Kanji Guide ·
Short answer: okurigana (送り仮名) is the hiragana that follows a kanji inside a word, such as the べる in 食べる and the い in 高い. The kanji gives the meaning, and the okurigana shows the ending of a verb or adjective, which is the part that conjugates. It is full-size writing, not a reading aid, and it is different from furigana.
This page explains the rules with examples you can check yourself. The rules come from the official guidelines of Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, 送り仮名の付け方 (Okurigana no tsukekata), issued as a Cabinet notice in 1973 and partly amended in 1981 and 2010. You can read the full text on the Agency for Cultural Affairs website. Readings of kanji below come from Kanji Guide’s own kanji pages.
What okurigana does
A kanji alone often has several readings. Okurigana tells you which word you are reading and carries the ending that changes.
| Word | Kanji part | Okurigana | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 食べる (たべる) | 食 | べる | to eat |
| 高い (たかい) | 高 | い | tall, expensive |
| 行く (いく) | 行 | く | to go |
| 大きい (おおきい) | 大 | きい | big |
| 書く (かく) | 書 | く | to write |
Okurigana also separates words that share a kanji: 行 is read い in 行く (to go) and おこな in 行う (to carry out). The kana after the kanji is the clue. For how on and kun readings work, see onyomi vs kunyomi.
Okurigana vs furigana
| Okurigana | Furigana | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Part of the word’s spelling | A reading aid |
| Size and place | Normal size, in line after the kanji | Small, above or beside the kanji |
| Can you omit it? | No, the word is misspelled without it | Yes, it only helps the reader |
| Example | 食べる | 食(た)べる, with たべる printed small above |
In 食べる, the べる is okurigana. If a children’s book prints たべる above the whole word, that extra line is furigana. To read without that support, see how to read kanji without furigana.
Rule 1: verbs and adjectives take the conjugating ending
The first rule (通則1) of the official guidelines says that a word that conjugates writes its conjugating ending in kana. The guidelines give 書く, 考える, 助ける, 生きる and 実る as examples for verbs, and 荒い and 潔い for i-adjectives.
Verbs
The kanji stays fixed and the ending changes. Here it is with 食べる and 行く:
| Form | 食べる (eat) | 行く (go) |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 食べる | 行く |
| Polite | 食べます | 行きます |
| Negative | 食べない | 行かない |
| Past | 食べた | 行った |
| て-form | 食べて | 行って |
Two things to notice. In 食べる the okurigana is べる, so the kanji 食 stays put and only the kana after it change: 食べます, 食べない, 食べた. In 行く the okurigana is く, and in the past tense it becomes った (行った), so the kana you write follows the form you want. The kanji 行 never changes.
A few verbs have no separate stem, and the guidelines write them like 着る, 寝る and 来る, with only the final kana.
i-adjectives
For i-adjectives, the ending い is written in kana, and the conjugation changes it: 高い, 高くない, 高かった. The exceptions are listed in the guidelines:
- Stems ending in し begin the okurigana at し: 著しい, 惜しい, 悔しい, 恋しい, 珍しい.
- Fixed forms: 大きい, 小さい, 少ない, 明るい, 危ない, 冷たい and 平たい are written as shown, with the okurigana beginning earlier than you might guess. For example, 大 in 大きい takes きい, not just い.
Rule 2: a word built on another keeps its okurigana
If a word contains another word, it follows that word’s okurigana (通則2). The guidelines show 動かす (from 動く), 照らす (from 照る), 浮かぶ (from 浮く) and 悲しむ (from 悲しい). So 動 gives 動く, and 動かす is written with か because it contains 動く.
The guidelines add a note: 明るい, 荒い, 悔しい and 恋しい are not treated as built on 明ける, 荒れる, 悔いる and 恋う. They follow rule 1.
Rule 4: nouns from verbs and adjectives
Nouns made from a verb or an adjective keep the okurigana of the original word (通則4). That covers two groups.
- Nouns from verbs: 動き (from 動く), 答え (from 答える), 願い (from 願う), 祭り (from 祭る) and 遠く (from 遠い).
- Adjectives with a suffix such as さ or み: 高さ (from 高い), 大きさ (from 大きい), 暑さ, 正しさ, 重み.
So 高い (tall) becomes 高さ (height) and 大きい becomes 大きさ (size). In 高さ the final い of the adjective is replaced by さ, and the same pattern gives 長さ, 広さ and 深さ.
The guidelines also list exception nouns that take no okurigana, such as 氷, 光, 話, 恥, 印 and 隣. These are written with the kanji alone, even though they look like they come from a verb. A note says that if the verb feel is still strong (for example when 光 or 折 behaves like a verb), the main rule applies instead.
Variants and permitted forms: 行う and 行なう
Each rule can have three parts: the main rule (本則), exceptions (例外) and permitted variants (許容). A permitted variant is a form that is also in customary use.
- 行う is the main form, and 行なう is the permitted variant under rule 1. The kanji 行 itself is the same, so look for おこなう after 行.
- Other rule 1 pairs: 表す and 表わす, 現れる and 現われる, 断る and 断わる, 著す and 著わす, 賜る and 賜わる.
- Under rule 2 you may drop okurigana if no misreading is likely: 浮かぶ can be 浮ぶ, 変わる can be 変る, and 落とす can be 落す.
- Under rule 4: 晴れ can be 晴, 答え can be 答, and 願い can be 願.
The guidelines say that when you cannot tell whether a variant is allowed, use the main form. For study, learn the main form first and treat variants as something you may see in print.
What changed in 2010
In November 2010 the Cabinet revised the Jōyō kanji list and, on the same day, amended the okurigana notice. The text published by the Agency for Cultural Affairs shows three changes: 関わる was added to the rule 1 exception list, 全て was added to the rule 3 exception list, and 五月晴れ was removed from the table of special words. Most learners will never need these details, but they show that the list is still maintained.
How far the rules go
The notice says it is a reference for laws, official documents, newspapers, magazines and broadcasting. It does not extend to specialist fields or to personal writing, and it does not cover proper nouns or kanji used as symbols. So names, specialist texts and older books can follow other habits. In everyday study, treat the guidelines as the standard and expect small variation elsewhere.
How to learn okurigana
- Learn each verb or adjective as a whole word. Memorise 食べる, not just 食. The kana after the kanji is part of the word.
- Learn the shape of the stem. For 食べる, the stem is 食べ. Conjugation changes only what follows (ます, ない, た, て).
- Memorise the short exception lists. 大きい, 小さい, 少ない, 明るい and the し adjectives cover many everyday words.
- Say the okurigana aloud. Read 食べる as たべる, 高さ as たかさ, so the sound and the spelling stay together.
- Check variants against the main form. If you see 行なう, you can read it as 行う.
For the kanji themselves, Kanji Guide teaches each one with a picture story, readings and stroke order; try the JLPT N5 kanji list or the N5 kanji quiz. If you want to know when kanji turn into kana, read why hiragana instead of kanji and kanji to hiragana. Open the study app in your browser, or get the Kanji Guide iPhone app on the App Store.
Kanji from this guide
Questions people ask
What is okurigana in Japanese?
Okurigana (送り仮名) is the hiragana written after a kanji to complete a word, mostly the part of a verb or adjective that changes. In 食べる (たべる, to eat) the kanji 食 carries the meaning and べる is okurigana. It is full-size writing and part of the spelling, so without it the word is wrong or can be read differently.
What is the difference between okurigana and furigana?
Okurigana is part of the normal spelling of a word, written in line after the kanji. Furigana is small kana printed above or beside a kanji to show how to read it, and it is a reading aid that can be left out. In 食べる, べる is okurigana; if a book prints たべる in small letters above 食べる, that is furigana.
What are the basic okurigana rules for verbs?
The basic rule in the official guidelines is to write the conjugating ending in kana: 書く, 考える, 助ける. For a verb like 食べる, that means 食 plus べる, and the same ending changes when you conjugate: 食べます, 食べない, 食べた. A verb built on another verb keeps that verb's okurigana, so 動かす follows 動く.
How do you write okurigana for i-adjectives?
Write the ending from the conjugating part: 高い, 荒い, 潔い. Adjectives whose stem ends in し begin their okurigana at し: 珍しい, 惜しい, 悔しい. A few common ones are fixed exceptions, including 大きい, 小さい, 少ない, 明るい and 冷たい. To make a noun with さ, keep the adjective's okurigana: 高い becomes 高さ and 大きい becomes 大きさ.
Are there exceptions or variants such as 行う and 行なう?
Yes. The guidelines list a main form (本則), exceptions (例外) and permitted variants (許容). 行う is the main form and 行なう is a permitted variant; the same applies to 表す and 表わす, 現れる and 現われる, 断る and 断わる. When you are unsure whether a variant is allowed, use the main form.
Is okurigana an official rule you must follow?
The Agency for Cultural Affairs publishes 送り仮名の付け方 (Okurigana no tsukekata), a Cabinet notice of 1973 that was partly amended in 1981 and 2010. It is a reference standard for laws, official documents, newspapers, magazines and broadcasting, and it does not try to cover specialist fields or personal writing. For study, the safe choice is to learn the main forms it gives.