"Dan" has the "sun" radical. "Shun" has the "eye" radical.

Last updated: 2025/02/03

This series, [Commonly Misspelled Characters], introduces characters that middle and high school students often get wrong, based on the corrections and grading guidance I, Shime-no, a teacher of essay and composition writing, see regularly, and serves as a warning to students and examinees.

Today, the topic is "Dan has the 'sun' radical. Shun has the 'eye' radical.". I often see incorrect answers where 'Dan' is written with the 'eye' radical or 'Shun' is written with the 'sun' radical. Today, we will check these two kanji.

First, "Dan" (warm). The on-yomi reading is "dan." The kun-yomi readings are "atataka," "atatakai," "atatamaru," and "atatameru." This is a phono-semantic character, where the radical is "sun" (hi-hen), and the right side represents the sound "en -> dan." I think if you associate the meaning of 'warm' with the sun, you can understand why it uses the 'sun' radical. However, quite a few people mistakenly use the 'eye' radical.

And my guess is that they are probably confusing it with "Shun" (blink/moment). Many people write this one incorrectly with the "sun" radical. The on-yomi reading is "shun." The kun-yomi reading is "matataku", and the usage "matataku ma ni" (in the blink of an eye) is common. This is also a phono-semantic character. The radical indicates the meaning, and the right side, "Shun," represents the sound "shun" (note: this exists as a character on its own). This "matataku" means "mabataku," which is to blink one's eyes. Therefore, the radical is "eye" (me-hen). It is a character that means "a short time, like the time it takes to blink."

Since kanji are ideograms, you can avoid mistakes by considering their composition and meaning. "Dan" has the "sun" radical. "Shun" has the "eye" radical.. If you are not sure which is which, try matching the meaning with the radical.

For those worried about "how to write a statement of purpose," I recommend this "Shime-no Style Template for Creating a Statement of Purpose"!