Meaning

Primary

To Cover

Alternatives

To Hide, To Conceal

Word Type

transitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means cover, so the verb version is to cover or to hide.

Reading

おおう
  • 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 this reading yet, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

You decide to cover yourself with a sheet because you want to pretend to be a ghost. But covering yourself isn't enough. If you really want people to believe in your disguise you have to say, "おお!" Otherwise they'll think you're a covered chair or a bush. If you おお at them they'll definitely know you're a ghost covered in that sheet.

Context

Context Sentences

私の庭は落ち葉に覆われています。

My garden is covered in fallen leaves.

Kanji Composition