Please forgive my ignorance,
How is it decided when to use kanji vs hiragana, or even katakana to write?
I am trying to read a Japanese book, and in the following passage “tabemono” is in both kanji and hiragana
食べもの好きを公言していると「好きな食べ物はなんだ?」と聞かれることがある。
適当にパスタとかジャガイモとか答えているけど、本当に魅力的な食べものを語ろうとすると、収拾がつかなくなる。
Thank you 🙏
4 comments
There’s no rule, really. People sometime will write words in kana out of laziness, or use uncommon kanji writings for no apparent reason. Once I saw どこ written in kanji in a game which is really weird.
Seeing the same word written both ways in a text is not uncommon.
Katakana is sometime used instead of hiragana for emphasis or to make a word easier to tell apart.
If you know the kanji, use the kanji. If not, hiragana is fine.
I’ve heard using kanji is more formal and using hiragana is more friendly. But over all, it depends on the author/ writer
There are no specific rules regarding when to use Kanji or Hiragana. However, in the case you mentioned, it is advisable to maintain consistency within the same paragraph; not doing so may be considered unprofessional.
Generally, 形式名詞 (keishiki meishi) like もの, こと, and とき should be written in hiragana, a practice encouraged by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). The word 食べ物 is a well-known noun, and in this context, もの signifies ‘material,’ so it can also be written in Kanji.
Furthermore, some places that may be challenging for outsiders to read are occasionally written in Hiragana as well.