Meaning

Primary

To Compete

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 compete so the verb vocab version means to compete.

Reading

きそう
  • 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:

You really have to compete for key soap (きそ). These days everyone wants their keys as clean as possible, and the special key soap they use is pretty hard to come by. Whenever it's in stock again people try to compete over it. Just imagine all those shoppers fighting over some key soap…

Context

Patterns of Use

Common Word Combinations

  • タイムで競う

    to compete based on time

    レースで競う

    to compete at a race

    チームで競う

    to compete in teams

Context Sentences

あなたとチェスで競うつもりはないです。

I am not planning to compete with you over chess.

人と競うのはあまり好きじゃないんですよね。

I don't really like competing with people.

競う相手がいるのは良いことだよ。

It's good to have someone to compete with.

Kanji Composition