犬
いぬ
hepburn inu
dog
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
Examples
- 犬が好きです。I like dogs.
- 小さい犬を飼っています。I'm keeping a small dog.
Collocations
犬を飼う (kau, keep a dog)犬の散歩 (inu no sanpo, dog walk)子犬 (koinu, puppy)番犬 (banken, watchdog)犬小屋 (inugoya, doghouse)
Mnemonic
犬 inu — dog. Basic animal vocab. Often with 飼う kau (to keep/raise), homophone with 買う (to buy, batch 2) — context distinguishes. Onyomi けん (ken): 番犬 banken (watchdog), 名犬 meiken (famous dog). 子犬 koinu (puppy) = child + dog.
Quick check
"Keep a dog" vs "buy a dog" — both pronounced kau, but?