How do you know when to use hiragana or kanji?

Hiragana are used for purely Japanese ways of saying a concept. Kanji are used used for words borrowed from Chinese. And, katakana are used for loan words from English, German, etc.

Which is more used hiragana or katakana or kanji?

In a sense, hiragana is the most commonly used, standard form of Japanese writing. Japanese vocabulary usually tends to be written in hiragana as opposed to katakana. Also, hiragana is used to write furigana, a reading aid that shows the pronunciation of kanji characters, which is sure to be helpful.

What is the difference between hiragana katakana and kanji?

The main differences are that hiragana is used for phonetically spelling out Japanese words, and katakana is for foreign words. Katakana character strokes tend to be more straight while hiragana is more curvilinear. Kanji is not a phonetic syllabary. Instead it is a set of characters that represent whole words.

Can you use hiragana instead of kanji?

Hiragana, though, are much simpler in both form and function. They take fewer strokes to write than all but the simplest kanji, and instead of representing concepts, hiragana are used for writing phonetically. Because of this, any Japanese word that can be written in kanji can also be written in hiragana.

Can hiragana replace kanji?

What is the difference between hiragana and kanji and katakana?

Kanji, hiragana and katakana are almost always used together in written sentences. This article will help you understand the differences among the three. Kanji is the system of Japanese writing that uses characters derived from the Chinese hanji.

What is the importance of kanji in Japanese writing?

What the wonderful answer by Ms.Itoh implies is that kanji enables Japanese to communicate with people and comprehend writings much much easier. Each kanji has one or more meaning, whereas hiragana and katakana do not.

Why did the Japanese invent katakana?

Much later they invented katakana for foreign loan words. It probably was to create a unique Japanese culture in order to keep better control of the Japanese peasants. Same reason they adopted shinto to counter buddhism and why they fought off Christianity.

Why did the Japanese invent hiragana alphabet?

The Japanese adopted the Chinese alphabet and gave it a few original twists, from that was born the hiragana alphabet. Much later they invented katakana for foreign loan words. It probably was to create a unique Japanese culture in order to keep better control of the Japanese peasants.