To Lack

July 9, 2010

"To Lack" in kanji. Japanese calligraphy art by Nao.

"To Lack" by Nao

ka-ku, ka-keru, ka-kasu, ketsu

To lack is kaku or kakasu. These verbs also mean “to miss.”A negative form of “kakasu” is “kakasazu.” The adverb “kakasazu” means “regularly.” You can use it when you mean that you do something regularly. Something you cannot miss is “kakasenai mono.” So if you want to mean, “I cannot miss something,” say, “[something] wo kakasenai.”

This character implies absence, too.

Ketsujo describes incompleteness or absence. For example, an absence of reliance is “shinrai no ketsujo.” An absence of humor can be expressed as “yūmoa no ketsujo.” Yūmoa is written in katakana.

Lack of money is kinketsu, which is not a formal word. “Kinketsuda…” humorously means, “I have little money.”

The kanji for "To Lack" with the stroke order and arrows showing directions.

  1. Draw the sweeping dot on the top.
  2. Draw the hook touching the previous stroke.
  3. Draw the sweeping stroke. Although it looks like touching the previous stroke, this stroke and the next one are separated from the previous strokes.
  4. Draw the sweeping stroke from the middle of the previous stroke.

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