river

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 河 has 8 strokes and appears in words for rivers and the land around them.
• Basic usage: 河口 is read かこう, and 河原 is read かわら.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• A river mouth and a riverbank
  • 河口 denotes the mouth where a river flows into another body of water.
  • In 河原で丸い石を三つ拾った, stones were picked up on the riverbank.
• Reading the complete word
  • The whole word 河原 is read かわら; the か from 河口 is not simply carried over.