How to read 日: 4 readings with examples

The Jōyō Kanji table lists 4 readings for 日. Which one you use depends on the word it sits in, so learn the words below and the reading comes with them.

On'yomi

ニチnichiジツjitsu

Kun'yomi

ひhiかka

Word	Reading	Type	Meaning
毎日	まいにちmainichi	On	every day
平日	へいじつheijitsu	On	weekday
朝日	あさひasahi	Kun	morning sun
日帰り	ひがえりhigaeri	Kun	day trip
三日	みっかmikka	Kun	three days; the 3rd
今日	きょうkyou	Special	today
明日	あしたashita	Special	tomorrow (everyday speech)

Special readings (jukujikun) are read as a whole word, so you can't split them by character.

How to tell which reading of 日 to use

Dates are the trap: the 1st to 10th, the 14th, 20th and 24th use special forms (ついたち, ふつか, みっか … はつか). Other dates use にち (十一日じゅういちにち).
曜日 is always ようび, with ひ softened to び: 日曜日にちようび.
In compounds, にち is most common (毎日); じつ appears in some (平日, 休日).
On its own, 日 is ひ (day, sun).

Seen in JapanShop doors: 本日休業 (honjitsu kyuugyou) means closed today.

Quiz

Can you read these sentences?

Why does one kanji have so many readings?

Kanji came to Japan from China over several centuries. Each wave brought the Chinese pronunciation of its time and place, and Japanese kept the older sounds alongside the newer ones. Those borrowed sounds are the on'yomi. For example, 生 is セイ in 先生 but ショウ in 一生. Japanese also attached its own native words to the characters, and those are the kun'yomi.

Sounds also shift when words join: ひ becomes び in 日曜日, ひと becomes びと in 人々, and ふん becomes ぷん in 三分. That is why the readings listed in a dictionary don't always match what you hear.