間
A couple of weeks ago we looked at the phrase
手間 tema. Today we're going to look at the second of the
kanji that form the word
tema.
The character 間 is an essential one in everyday Japanese and with a wide variety of meanings.
Its Chinese-style reading (onyomi) is usually
kan (but can, for certain meanings, be pronounced
ken), and its Japanese-style reading (kunyomi) is
aida or
ma.
The fundamental meaning of 間 is "space between," "gap," "interval," "distance." However, it refers not only to space, but to time as well, meaning, also, "time between," "pause," "break."
Today we'll look at three very common uses of the character in Japanese.
1.
間も無く This is the
ma pronunciation of 間, and the phrase here is pronounced
ma mo naku meaning, literally, "without a gap/space." Its meaning in everyday Japanese, however, is "quite/very soon." You will always hear it at a Japanese railway station in the announcement
Mamonaku densha ga mairimasu (word for word: "Soon train come", or, more idiomatically, "The train is about to arrive."
2.
この間 This is the
aida pronunciation of 間, and the phrase here is pronounced
kono aida, meaning, literally, "this space."
Its meaning in everyday Japanese, however, is "last time," "the other day," or "recently." You will often hear, for example,
Kono aida, domo or "Thanks for everything last time."
3.
間 The
kan pronunciation is probably the most common usage of this character, but always in tandem with the period of time being referred to. "2 weeks" is
ni shuu kan,
ni being "2,"
shuu being "week" and
kan being "space (of)." Likewise, "12 days" is
juu ni nichi kan, "5 years,"
go nen kan, and so on. Read more about the intricacies of
Japanese counting.
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