distance

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The on reading is きょ, and no kun reading is listed. It has 12 strokes and relates to distance between things or people.
• Basic usage: 距離 is read きょり, and 車間距離 is read しゃかんきょり.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 距離 / 車間距離
  • 距離 means distance and is read きょり. It applies to spatial distance and also to space kept between people.
  • 家から学校までの距離を地図で測った。 means “I measured the distance from home to school on a map.”
  • 車間距離 means following distance and is read しゃかんきょり. It specifically refers to the distance kept between vehicles while driving.
  • 教習では速度と車間距離の関係を模型で学びました。 means “In driving class, we used a model to learn how speed relates to following distance.”