Japanese word of the day: 角 (Kaku)

What does 角 (Kaku) mean?

角 (noun) — Corner or edge—like the corner of a street, desk, or building.

Kanji details for 角 (Kaku)

Character: 角 — angle, corner, square, horn, antlers
Radical: horn 角

Example sentences with 角 (Kaku)

• 次の角を右に曲がってください。
  (Tsugi no kado o migi ni magatte kudasai.)
  ➡️ Please turn right at the next corner.

• その店は通りの角にあります。
  (Sono mise wa tōri no kado ni arimasu.)
  🏪 That shop is on the corner of the street.

•  この机の角に注意してください。
  (Kono tsukue no kado ni chūi shite kudasai.)
  ⚠️ Be careful of the corner of this desk.

角 (Kaku) in context

Use かど (kado) when asking for directions, describing furniture, or talking about the shape of objects. Use カク (kaku) in math, geometry, or when describing shapes like triangles (三角, sankaku) and rectangles (四角, shikaku).

A quick tip: 角 can also mean “horn” (つの, tsuno), but for daily life and beginner Japanese, “corner” and “angle” are the most useful meanings.

Whether you’re turning a street corner or measuring the angles of a triangle, 角 is a word you’ll use again and again in Japanese.