赤字 and 黒字: a financial result and black lettering
Read deficit and surplus in a hypothetical income-and-expenditure record, then distinguish black lettering as another use of 黒字.
Expenditure greater than income
赤字, read あかじ, means a deficit in a money context. Hypothetical income of five thousand yen and expenditure of six thousand make expenditure one thousand greater.
収入より支出が多く、千円の赤字です。 states a one-thousand-yen deficit. The full six-thousand-yen expenditure is not the deficit amount.
Income greater than expenditure
黒字, read くろじ, means a surplus in a money context. Reversing the amounts to six thousand income and five thousand expenditure gives a one-thousand-yen surplus under the same hypothetical basis.
架空の店の収支を計算すると少し黒字になりました。 reports a small surplus after calculating a fictional shop’s income and expenditure. It is not an assessment from sales size alone.
Black lettering in print
注意事項は白い紙に黒字で印刷されています。 says that the notices are printed in black lettering on white paper. 黒字 does not describe a money result here.
Check whether the context concerns 収支 or the lettering in 印刷. Black printing supplies no information that a shop has a surplus.
Does 黒字 in 白い紙に黒字で印刷されています。 report a shop’s financial surplus?
Show the answer and why
No. It describes black lettering printed on white paper. No income-and-expenditure result is stated.