day · sun

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 日 has 4 strokes; the word 日 is read ひ, and 日曜日 is read にちようび.
• Basic usage: 日 denotes a day or the sun; 日曜日 names the day of the week Sunday.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• A day, sunlight, and readings within a word
  • 雨の日 means a rainy day, while 日が差して describes sunlight shining. The same reading ひ has different meanings depending on whether the context concerns time or light.
  • In 日曜日, the first character is read にち, and the last is read び. A repeated character can have different readings according to its position within the word.