Thin or Fine

by Nao

hoso-i, hoso-ru, hoso-meru, koma-kai, koma-ka, koma-yaka, sai

Thin or Narrow

The adjective futoi is the antonym of hosoi. Things that may be thin are strings, cables, and faces.

A thin string is “hosoi himo”; a thin cable is “hosoi kēburu”; and a thin face is “hosoi kao.” Some people are thin, too. “Hosoi hito” means a thin person. Things that may be narrow are streets, roads, and lanes. “Hosoi michi” means a narrow road. Eyes may be narrow, too. “Hosoi me” means narrow eyes.

While hosoi is an adjective, hosomeru is a verb meaning “to narrow.” To narrow one’s eyes and “me wo hosomeru” sound similar but have completely different implications. In Japanese,　“me wo hosomeru” means to smile because you are very happy. People show such a smiling face often when they are seeing somebody they adore very much.

Fine

The adjective komakai means fine or small. The adverb komakaku means finely.

More Sensitive Senses

“Komayakana” functions like an adjective and means tender or deep. “Komayakani” functions like an adverb meaning tenderly or sensitively. Sai in saishin has the same meaning. “Saishin no” means scrupulous. It always precedes a noun. “Saishin no chūi wo harau” means to pay a scrupulous attention. Chūi means attention. Harau means to pay.

To see this with Japanese, please click here.

1. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
2. Draw the short stroke from almost where you finished the last stroke.
3. Draw the stroke that parallels the first stroke.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke that is almost horizontal.
5. Draw the dot at the end of the previous stroke.
6. Draw the vertical stroke.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke on the left of the vertical stroke.
8. Draw the dot on the other side.
9. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
10. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
11. Draw the vertical stroke in the rectangle.
12. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
13. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

In the dictionary, this is categorized as an 11-stroke character. When you write this character with a pen, connect the first and the second strokes, and the third and the fourth strokes.