招待, 紹介 and 正体
Two traps at once: a real word with the same sound, and kanji that look almost the same.
48% of 60 answers were right — one of the hardest questions in the catalogue.
Which kanji matches the underlined word?
- 招侍
- 正体
- 招待✓ correct
- 紹待
I invited a friend to the wedding.
What it is testing
しょうたい (invitation) is written 招待. Each kanji tells part of the story: 招 has the hand radical 扌 — beckoning someone over — and 待 means to wait, as in 待つ. You call someone, then wait for them to arrive.
The sound しょうたい also belongs to 正体, "true identity". Both are real words, so the reading alone can never decide it — only the sentence can. A wedding (結婚式) is something you are invited to, so it has to be 招待.
紹 looks a lot like 招, but it has the thread radical 糸 and belongs to 紹介 (しょうかい, introduction) — tying two people together.
Words that sound or look alike
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Tell it by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 招待 | しょうたい | invitation | 扌 hand: beckoning |
| 正体 | しょうたい | true identity | same sound, other meaning |
| 紹介 | しょうかい | introduction | 糸 thread: connecting people |
| 招く | まねく | to invite; to beckon | the 招 of 招待 |
| 期待 | きたい | expectation | the 待 of 招待 |
Why the wrong answers are tempting
- ✕ 招侍侍 (samurai) has 亻 where 待 has 彳. At a glance the two are nearly identical, which is the whole trap.
- ✕ 正体Read aloud it is perfect — しょうたい. The meaning is the problem: "true identity" makes no sense with a wedding.
- ✕ 紹待If you know 紹介, 紹 feels familiar and right. It is a real kanji, just the wrong one: there is no word 紹待.
More examples
- 友だちの誕生日パーティーに招待された。I was invited to my friend's birthday party.
- 招待状は来週届きます。The invitations will arrive next week.
- 新しいメンバーを紹介します。Let me introduce our new member.
- 最後に、犯人の正体がわかった。In the end, the culprit's true identity came out.
Beckon with your hand (扌), then wait (待): 招待. Thread (糸) ties people together: 紹介.