Emaki · all 1,500 words

違う

ちがう

to differ, to be wrong

Mnemonic

Two sets of footprints leaving the road in opposite directions. You said Chicago ちがう and she said Cheltenham, and one of you is wrong: ちがう.

Worth knowing

Doubles as 'that's wrong'. Being different and being incorrect are the same verb, so it's also the everyday way to contradict someone.

Built from

differ, be wrong
辶 the road with 韋 above it, two sets of feet going opposite ways round the same enclosure.

Words sharing these kanji

to be mistaken, to be incorrect misunderstanding mistake, error difference, mistake to mistake, to confuse

This is one of 1,500 words in Emaki, a free spaced repetition trainer with a written mnemonic on every card.

Study 違う in Emaki

Free, no account needed. Your progress stays in your browser.

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.