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4 写す To Copy

Alternative Meanings

To Photograph, To Take A Picture

Part of Speech

Transitive verb and Godan verb

Reading

うつす

  • Kyoko(Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi(Tokyo accent, male)

Context Sentences

となりのページに、手本の字を写してください。

Please copy the characters on the next page of your workbooks.

ビエトの写す写しんの大ファンです。

I'm a big fan of the photos Viet takes.

お経を書き写すには、千円支払う必要があります。

You must pay 1,000 yen in order to transcribe a sutra by hand.

Meaning Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means copy so you know this means to copy. You know this word means "to copy" because it ends with す. You're copying the documents you need to sue (す) someone who screwed you over.

Reading Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

You have to remember the うつ part. To remember that, think of yourself as a beatboxer. You're saying うつうつうつ over and over again. Thing is, the other beatboxer is going to copy everything you do. That's why you're suing him.

Utilized Kanji