plum

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 梅 has 10 strokes and denotes the Japanese plum tree or its fruit.
• Basic usage: 梅（うめ） means a Japanese plum tree or its fruit; 梅雨（つゆ） means the rainy season.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Tree and fruit
  • In 庭の梅が白い花を咲かせた, a plum tree in the garden produced white flowers.
  • In 青い梅を砂糖と一緒に瓶へ入れた, someone put green plum fruit in a jar with sugar.
• The rainy season: reading and expressions
  • The two characters in 梅雨 are read together as つゆ.
  • 梅雨に入る means to enter the rainy season; 梅雨の間 means during that season.