勉強
べんきょう
hepburn benkyou
study (noun)
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
勉exertion
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強strong
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Examples
- 毎日日本語を勉強しています。I study Japanese every day.
- もっと勉強してください。Please study more.
Collocations
勉強 (benkyou, study)勉強する (benkyou suru, to study)勉強になる (benkyou ni naru, becomes a learning experience)勉強会 (benkyoukai, study session)お勉強 (obenkyou, child-directed "study")
Mnemonic
勉強 benkyou — kanji "exert (勉) + strong (強)" = "to apply oneself strongly". The literal force is striking. Korean settled on the word gongbu for the same concept; Chinese 勉强 (miǎnqiǎng) drifted to the opposite sense "reluctantly, against the will" — same kanji, divergent CJK meanings. Classic cross-CJK trap. Idiom 勉強になりました ("that was educational") is a polite thank-you after meetings or interviews — heavy social pragmatic load.
Quick check
How does 勉強 mean different things in Japanese vs Chinese?