Meaning

Primary

To Supplement

Alternative

To Compensate For

Word Type

transitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means supplement so the verb vocab version is to supplement.

Note that this word is generally considered relatively formal in tone.

Reading

おぎなう
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Oh, gee, now (おぎな) you're going to supplement it? That would have been helpful earlier. Might help to say "oh gee now" with a sound instead of "ji" sound out loud, too. This is a tricky reading, won't be learned too easily, so think about it a bit now.

Context

Context Sentences

もちろん、親からの仕送りだけでは足りなかったので、生活費はアルバイトで補っていました。

Of course, my allowance from my parents wasn't enough, so I worked part-time to supplement my living expenses.

野菜ジュースで、野菜不足を補うことはできるのでしょか。

Can we make up for the lack of vegetables by drinking vegetable juice?

欠員を補うために、ボーリングゲームに参加しました。

To compensate for the empty spot, I joined the bowling game.

人は1日に約2500mlの水分を失います。それを補うためには、食べ物や飲み物から同じ量の水分を取り入れる必要があります。

People lose about 2500 ml of fluids per day. To make up for it, you need to take in the same amount of fluids from food or drinks.

Kanji Composition