oil

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 油 has 8 strokes and denotes oil.
• Basic usage: 醤油 is read しょうゆ, and 油 is read あぶら.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Soy sauce and oil
  • 刺身に醤油を少し付けて describes dipping raw fish in a little soy sauce. 醤油 should not be translated as oil.
• Cooking and machine maintenance
  • フライパンに少量の油を引いた means spreading a little oil in a frying pan.
  • 機械の歯車に油を差す means oiling a machine's gears, so 油 is not always cooking oil.