右

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 右に曲がってください。▶ —
   Please turn right.
2. 右手で書きます。▶ —
   I write with my right hand.

Collocations

Mnemonic

右 migi — onyomi う / ゆう; 右翼 and 左右 both pass through this character. The oracle-bone 右 is 又 (a hand) and 口 (a mouth) — a right hand pointing at the mouth, and the hand-gesture of eating and speaking grew into the name of a direction. In Japan cars run on the left, so the driver's seat sits on the right. The split of left and right lodges as a bodily sense — the word is learned with the body.

Quick check

1. In the etymology of 右, what does 又 represent?

   • Hand (right hand) — simplified three fingers + arm
   • Adverb "again" — repetition
   • Two — a number
   • Fork in the road