Shade
In The Shadows, Behind The Scenes
noun
The kanji and the word are exactly the same. That means they share meanings as well.
陰 is the word for literal shade, but it can also be used figuratively to talk about stuff that happens in the shadows, behind the scenes, or behind someone's back.
陰 uses a new かげ reading when it's a vocab word, so here's a mnemonic to help remember it:
You need to look in the shade if you want to find the elusive car gecko (かげ). (Like, a gecko in a tiny car.) It's illegal for geckos to drive cars, so a car gecko has to drive in the shade, or maybe even in the shadows, to avoid getting caught. That's why car geckos love shade.
陰に隠れる
to hide in the shadows
陰に潜む
to lurk in the shadows
陰に消える
to disappear into the shadows
木の陰
shade of a tree
建物の陰
shade of a building
カーテンの陰
behind a curtain
成功の陰
behind the success of something
陰で支える
to support behind the scenes
陰で操る
to pull strings behind the scenes
陰で努力する
to work hard behind the scenes
陰で悪口を言う
to bad-mouth someone behind their back
陰でこそこそする
to sneak around in the shadows
陰でこそこそ私の陰口言うの、止めてくれない？言いたいことがあるなら、はっきり言ってよ！
Can't you stop making fun of me behind my back? If you have something to say, say it to my face.
私がワニカニでこのレベルまで来れたのは、陰で支えてくれた母のおかげだ。
I only made it this far in WaniKani thanks to my mother supporting me behind the scenes.
週末、自然公園でピクニックをした。ちょうどいい大きな岩の陰があったので、そこにレジャーシートを敷いてお弁当を食べることにした。
Over the weekend, we had a picnic at the nature park. There was a perfect spot in the shade of a large rock, so we decided to spread our picnic mat there and eat our bentos.
あの家の周りの陰は、昼でも少し暗かった。だからだろうか。近所の人たちは、その家の話をするときだけ声をひそめた。
The shade around that house seemed dark even at noon. Perhaps that was why… People in the neighborhood always lowered their voices when speaking about it.