Emaki · all 1,500 words

不可能

ふかのう

impossible

Mnemonic

Three characters stacked up and every one of them saying no. The same can かのう as 可能, with a foo ふ in front of it cancelling the lot. That report, in a day: ふかのう.

Worth knowing

可能 かのう is possible, and 不 on the front is the usual way of turning a word round. 無理 むり is the everyday impossible, and it also covers unreasonable and overdoing it.

Built from

not, un-
Nothing to break off it. It cancels whatever follows.
can, possible
A bent line over 口 a mouth. The thing you are allowed to say yes to.
ability
No clean parts to pull off. Take it as what a thing is able to do.

Words sharing these kanji

strange, wonderful uneasiness, anxiety dissatisfaction, discontent suddenly, unexpectedly cute possible, potential permission, approval ability, capacity talent, ability

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Emaki is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Kaishi 1.5k or its authors. The word, reading and meaning come from the Kaishi 1.5k deck, used with their permission. The mnemonic, the note and the kanji breakdown are original work, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.