生

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The spelling is 生, read なま, and it functions as a noun or prefix-like modifier for something not heated or processed.
• Basic usage: 生 describes food such as fish or eggs in a raw, uncooked, or otherwise unheated state.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• An uncooked state distinct from freshness
  • Both examples use the form 生. Freshness is the reason the fish can be eaten raw in the first example, while 生 itself describes lack of cooking; the concepts are not identical.
• Fish eaten raw and an egg checked before cracking
  • この魚は新鮮なので生でも食べられる。 — This fish is fresh enough to be eaten raw.
  • 生の卵を割る前に殻をよく確認した。 — I checked the shell carefully before cracking a raw egg.