225 - Kanji Closeup: 得

Yesterday I was thinking about how I use words with the kanji 得 quite a bit:

得 means something like "profit; advantage; benefit; gain."

You'll most commonly see 得 in words using the onyomi reading, which is とく.

The only words I can think of that do not use とく as the reading are:

得る
える
to get; to acquire; to obtain; to procure

あり得る
ありうる・ありえる
to be possible; to be likely

なり得る
なりうる・なりえる
to be possible to become

あり得ない
ありえない
impossible

Uh... why do we have both うる and える readings?

I don't know. But I can give you some good news: I never use うる. I only say える.

I do this for two reasons:

#1) うる has a somewhat stiffer nuance than える.
#2) Words like あり得ない or 得る all by itself only use え.

So just always use える for the reading of 得る.

Here are a couple of example sentences:

ギャンブルで利益を得るのは難しい。
ギャンブル で りえき を える のは むずかしい。
It's difficult to make a profit by gambling.
Literally: "gambling + で + profit + を + get + のは + difficult."

えーっ!あり得ない!!
えーっ!ありえない!!
Whaaaaat?! No way!
Literally: "Whaaaaat! + Impossible!"
Note: It's common to write あり得ない with only hiragana as ありえない.

誰でも病気になり得る。
だれ でも びょうき に なりえる。
It's possible for anyone to become sick.
Literally: "anyone + sick + can possibly become."


Anyways, I find myself often using the other reading of 得, which is とく.

The most common word using this kanji is probably:

得意
とくい
one's strong point [speciality]; skilled (at)

For example, we could say:

エクセル得意?
エクセル とくい?
Are you good at (using) Excel?
Literally: "Excel + skilled?"

I love simple sentences like this.

You could also say:

得意料理はオムレツです。
とくい りょうり は オムレツ です。
Omelettes are my specialty.
Literally: "skilled / speciality + cooking + は + omelettes + です."


But my favorite word using 得 is probably:

お得
おとく
a profit; an advantage; a good deal

This word will also show up commonly as a する verb:

得する
とくする
to make a profit; to benefit from; to get a good deal

I used to misuse this word a lot, but I'm getting better... slowly...

ハッピーアワーってお得だよね。
ハッピーアワー って おとく だ よ ね。
Happy hour is a good deal, isn't it?
Literally: "happy hour + って + good deal + だよね."

Or imagine that you went to a coffee shop and ordered a coffee. But instead they gave you a latte!

You informed them of the error, and as a result you got both a coffee and a latte even though you only paid for one drink.

You could then say:

なんか得した気分!
なんか とくした きぶん!
I feel like I got a special deal! // I feel like I benefited from that!
Literally: "somehow + got a good deal/profit + feeling!"

Or if you buy a PC and you think you got a good deal, you could say:

このパソコン、買って得した!
この パソコン、 かって とくした!
I got a good deal on this PC.
Literally: "this + PC, + buy (and) + benefited/profited!"


Last but not least, we have a proverb that uses 得.

And it's a proverb with an English equivalent, too!

早起きは三文の得。
はやおき は さんもん の とく。
The early bird gets the worm.
Literally: "waking up early // early riser + は + 3 coins + の + profit."
Note: You may know the word 文 (ぶん // sentence), but here we have 文 (もん), which is an old and obsolete form of currency in Japan.

Hope you enjoyed this one. ^^

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