Meaning

Primary

To Decrease

Alternatives

To Be Decreased, To Get Decreased

Word Type

intransitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means decrease so the verb vocab version is to decrease or to be decreased.

Reading

へる
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you: Your status is to be decreased amongst the eyes of the Gods. They decide your punishment is to be decreased into hell (へる) where you will live the rest of your days.

Context

Context Sentences

エクササイズすると、ウツになるリスクも減るんだって!

They say that exercising also reduces the risk of depression!

ウルトラプロセスフードを食べないようにしたら、十日で体重がニキロ減りました。

When I stopped eating ultra-processed food, I lost two kilograms of weight in ten days.

イライラしやすい人は「他人にギブしすぎ」なんだよ。最初から何もしないか、相手が返せる分だけギブするようにするか、相手に期待しないようにすると、ストレスが劇的に減るよ。

People who are easily frustrated are "giving too much to others". If you do nothing from the beginning, or try to give only what they can give back, or don't expect them to give back, you will dramatically reduce your stress.

Kanji Composition