In terms of similar kanji, 氷 (icicle) and 永 (eternity) are very close. They’re clearly not indistinguishable but at normal reading size they can be difficult to tell apart especially for beginners.

If we threw in 水 to the mix, which is the kanji for water, we could thoroughly confuse ourselves – so I think we’ll just stick with these two for today. ^_^

My mnemonic (visual clue) for keeping these two kanji clear in my mind is to visualise that “If you snap the tip off the icicle (氷), it will be broken for an eternity (永)”.

The icicle kanji – 氷 – has the straight up tip with the small stroke to the left while the kanji for Eternity – 永 – looks like someone has snapped the top and pushed it to the left.

Remember that as crazy as some of these mnemonics sound, they really work.

Example Usage

Kanji	Hiragana	Meaning
氷山	ひょうざん	iceberg (氷 – icicle, 山 – mountain)
南氷洋	なんひょうよう	Antarctic Ocean (南 – south, 氷 – icicle, 洋 – ocean)
永住	えいじゅう	permanent residence (永 – eternity, 住 – live, reside)
永生	えいせい	immortality (永 – eternity, 生 – life)

Readings

氷 (On: ヒョウ Kun: こおり, ひ, こおる)

永 (On: エイ Kun: ながい)

Add Your Comment | zonjineko! Free Monthly Newsletter