Particles define the function a word plays in a sentence. =)

を marks the direct object (the thing that has the verb done to it). に can mark a large number of things, sadly, but usually you’ll see it marking the time-of-action, the location-of-existence, the destination-of-motion or the indirect object (the beneficiary of the verb being done).

So, way way back in the mists of pre-history, Japan had no writing system (which is what makes it pre-history) but they still had their own spoken language. They would have had, at the time, words for things they saw around them – trees, rocks, rivers, people, et cetera. Then Buddhist scholars arrived in Japan, bringing with them the Chinese writing system, kanji. These kanji were assigned to native Japanese words that already existed, so they’d have a way to write them down, but the kanji already came with their own language attached, too – and also words for more esoteric concepts like government, taxation, armies, et cetera.

Which brings us to kun’yomi and on’yomi. Kun’yomi is the native Japanese reading, the reading for the word that already existed in Japanese before kanji were pasted over the top. On’yomi is the Chinese reading that was imported with the kanji.

So, when do you use which reading? This is the bit where Koichi starts muddying the waters. It’s a very rough rule of thumb, but it goes like this:
- When the kanji’s sitting on its own you use the kun’yomi (for example, 森 (もり, forest) or 夏 (なつ, summer) or 南 (みなみ, south) or 人 (ひと, person)).
- When the kanji’s in a compound word with other kanji, you use the on’yomi (for example, 森林学 (しんりんがく, forestry) or 夏至 (げし, summer solstice) or 南東 (なんとう, south-west) or 人間 (にんげん, human)).
- When a kanji has okurigana on the end (tacked-on hiragana to indicate verb and adjective conjugations) you always, always use kun’yomi, no exceptions (for example, 大きい (おお・きい, big) or 好き (す・き, likeable) or 走る (はし・る, to run)).

Now the trick with Japanese is that all rules have exceptions (except for the kanji-with-okurigana – that’s the exception to THIS rule). Some stand-alone characters tend to use on’yomi, and some compound words will use on’yomi. Some compund words even use a mix of both, just to be confusing. I’ve generally found that the more nature-themed a word is, the more likely it is to use kun’yomi – for example, 川口, river-mouth, uses kun’yomi for both kanji (かわぐち). Proper names tend to use kun’yomi (like 青森 (あおもり) or 小林 (こばやし)), though to confuse matters, many kanji have special readings that are only used in names, called nanori.

My advice, don’t fret about going “this is the on’yomi for this kanji, and that’s the kun’yomi”, because you’re only going to forget the readings without something concrete to hang them on. Instead learn “this is how that word is read”, and you’ll learn the readings as a result. After you’ve got a bit of vocab and kanji under your belt, you’ll start to be able to intuit the readings of words you’ve never seen before, and even kanji you’ve never seen before.

And whew, that turned into an essay. =P

会心率 = critical hit ratio
会心力 = critical hit power

As for your second post, the top line may be in Chinese, not completely certain, but both lines read the same thing, which is “Naruto Ninja Collection – Gale Dance”.

Are you calling people “things”? Huh? Huh?

But seriously, though, the “seven things” is specifically the generic counter つ, which always uses the kun’yomi. For other counters, you almost always use the on’yomi (though there’s a few exeptions, of course – there’s always exceptions).

That said, 七 is weird in that its readings can be fairly interchangeable (though usually not when attached to a counter). ななにん is also a valid reading (it’s used in the title of 山田くんと七人の魔女, for example).

That’s not, admittedly, ALL of the conjugations. Posting them all would take forever, though. =P

You got any sightseeing plans? Or time to do it? =)

Welcome!

It is good to have like-minded people around. If I can ever remember to check the forum for new posts. =P

Yep. Context. Japanese is a much more contextual language than English, so often the meaning of sentences can rely very heavily on the context.