urgent

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 急 has 9 strokes, the on-reading きゅう, and the kun-reading いそぐ. 急ぐ (いそぐ) means to hurry.
• Basic usage: 急ぐ describes hurrying to avoid being too late; 急行 (きゅうこう) names an express train.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Hurrying and an express train
  • 駅まで急いだ means hurried to the station. 洗濯物を取り込もうと急ぐ describes rushing to bring in the laundry.
  • 急行に乗って refers to taking an express train. この急行は次の大きな駅まで止まらない means that this train does not stop until the next major station.