How to read 生: 12 readings with examples

The Jōyō Kanji table lists 12 readings for 生. Which one you use depends on the word it sits in, so learn the words below and the reading comes with them.

On'yomi

セイseiショウshou

Kun'yomi

い(きる)ikiruい(かす)ikasuい(ける)ikeruう(まれる)umareruう(む)umuお(う)ouは(える)haeruは(やす)hayasuきkiなまnama

Word	Reading	Type	Meaning
先生	せんせいsensei	On	teacher
一生	いっしょうisshou	On	whole life
生きる	いきるikiru	Kun	to live
生かす	いかすikasu	Kun	to make use of
生け花	いけばなikebana	Kun	flower arranging
生まれる	うまれるumareru	Kun	to be born
生む	うむumu	Kun	to give birth to
生い立ち	おいたちoitachi	Kun	upbringing
生える	はえるhaeru	Kun	to grow, sprout
生やす	はやすhayasu	Kun	to grow (a beard)
生地	きじkiji	Kun	fabric; dough
生ビール	なまビールnamabiiru	Kun	draft beer
芝生	しばふshibafu	Special	lawn
生憎	あいにくainiku	Special	unfortunately

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

How to tell which reading of 生 to use

In two-kanji words, セイ is the most common (先生, 学生). ショウ appears in a smaller set (一生, and 誕生たんじょう, where it softens to じょう).
なま means raw, live or unprocessed: 生ビール, 生卵, 生放送.
With hiragana after it, it's a verb: 生きる, 生かす and 生ける use い; 生まれる and 生む use う; 生える and 生やす use は.

Seen in JapanIzakaya menus: 生ビール, and the classic order 生ひとつ (nama hitotsu, one draft beer).

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.