Meaning

Primary

Battle

Alternatives

Fight, Conflict

Word Type

noun

Explanation

Don't let this word confuse you. It may end in , but it's not an adjective, it's a noun. There are no rules in war, after all. This word describes what happens in war. Those things are battles, fights, and conflicts.

Reading

たたかい
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

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:

In a fierce battle, there's always a lot of collateral damage. One of the things that gets destroyed is your car. But you can't do anything about it, it's battle time! So you wave goodbye to your car saying, "Ta ta car (たたか)!" as you punch some jerk in the face.

Context

Common Word Combinations

  • 最後の戦い

    the last battle

    女の戦い

    women's battle

    次の戦い

    the next battle

Context Sentences

今日のコウイチ、なんだか戦いにくたびれてしまったへいしみたいだね。

Koichi looks like a battle-weary soldier today.

しずかだろうがさわがしかろうが、戦いはきらいなんだよ。

Whether it's quiet or noisy, I still don't like conflict.

彼はマクドナルドに行く途中、血みどろの戦いに遭遇したが、その後そのままビッグマックを食べに行った。

On the way to McDonald’s he got in a bloody fight but that didn’t stop him from getting his Big Mac.

Kanji Composition