Are there general rules on when to use kanji vs. kana?


This post is inspired by Tokyo Nagoya's comment in [できる vs ~えます form for
“can”, “able
to”](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/14666/%E5%87%BA%E6%9D%A5%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8B-vs-%E3%81%88%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99-form-
for-can-able-to#15133) asking why everyone was writing 出来る in kanji in their
responses.

As I mentioned in my reply to his comment, I know my personal habit is to use
kanji wherever I can ― both to reinforce what I know and to remind myself of
context sometimes (heck, I even find myself annotating some texts to _add_
kanji now and then...). That said, I'm aware that there are some points at
which it becomes ridiculous. Nobody uses the kanji for パン, for example, and
[天麩羅]{てんぷら} is usually rendered in [交]{ま}ぜ[書]{が}き. I also find myself in the
minority on some usages, such as [出来]{でき}る and [下]{くだ}さい.

Are there any set rules or style guides determining when it's appropriate to
use kanji vs. kana?




If we want an authoritative source, we could look at [the official terminology
used by the Japanese
government](http://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/sisaku/joho/joho/kijun/sanko/koyobun/pdf/kunrei.pdf)
as set out by the Agency of Cultural Affairs (文化庁) (might be familiar name to
some people as their page about
[二重敬語](http://www.bunka.go.jp/bunkashingikai/soukai/pdf/keigo_tousin.pdf) gets
referenced here sometimes).

They start by saying only to use kanji from 常用漢字表・付表 in the normal form of the
character.

They go on to give certain 代名詞 which should be written in kanji,

> 例 俺、彼、誰、何、僕、私、我々

and 副詞・連体詞 to be written using kanji.

> 例（副詞） 余り、至って、大いに、恐らく、概して、必ず [...] (long list)
>
> 例（連体詞） 明るく、大きな、来る、去る、小さな、我が（国）

They go say 副詞 such as the following in should be written in kana.

> 例 かなり、ふと、やはり、よほど

They prescribe writing 御 in kanji when the word it is attached it is in kanji,
and kana when the word is in kana.

> 御案内、御挨拶 vs. ごもっとも

and they give the following 接尾語 to be written in kana.

> げ（惜しげもなく）、ども（私ども）、ぶる（偉ぶる）、み（弱み）、め（少なめ）

They prescribe writing in kana for 接続詞 such as the following

> 例 おって、かつ、したがって、ついては、ところが、ところで、また、ゆえに

and kana for the 助動詞・助詞 such as the following

> ない（行かない）、ようだ、ぐらい、だけ、ほど

Finally, they prescribe kana for a whole lot of words when used in certain
ways (take a look at キ under 1(2)) such as ある・いる expressing existence, the こと
in 許可しないことがある, **できる** such as in だれでも利用ができる, and te-form + verb
(てあげる、ていく、ておく、てください、etc etc)

* * *

My only problem with all this is: to what extent do prescriptive rules such as
these reflect actual usage? Writing te-form + verb in kana seems to generally
accepted, as does writing words such as わけ、はず、ようだ、だけ、ほど etc in kana.

However (and here I have a problem with TN's comment) 出来る in kanji is seen
**all the time** in contexts both formal and informal. 従{したが}って, ご案内 (not
using 御 as the Agency prescribes), 又{また}, etc are also common.

As [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/15732/question-about-
mixed-kana-in-%E3%81%8A%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B9%E3%83%A1) or [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/565/which-kanji-to-use-
for-
saying-%E3%81%82%E3%82%8A%E3%81%8C%E3%81%A8%E3%81%86%E3%81%94%E3%81%96%E3%81%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99-in-
emails) (see Uberto's answer and Tsuyoshi Ito's comment) for example show, a
writer can make use of the 3 writing systems in Japanese to give different
impressions (オススメ vs お勧め, ありがとうございます vs 有難う御座います). Some of these will only be
appropriate to casual writing, sometimes you will have a choice even in formal
writing. This is one of the most fun/interesting parts of Japanese, though I
don't know how one could comprehensively describe it...




If we want an authoritative source, we could look at [the official terminology
used by the Japanese
government](http://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/sisaku/joho/joho/kijun/sanko/koyobun/pdf/kunrei.pdf)
as set out by the Agency of Cultural Affairs (文化庁) (might be familiar name to
some people as their page about
[二重敬語](http://www.bunka.go.jp/bunkashingikai/soukai/pdf/keigo_tousin.pdf) gets
referenced here sometimes).

They start by saying only to use kanji from 常用漢字表・付表 in the normal form of the
character.

They go on to give certain 代名詞 which should be written in kanji,

> 例 俺、彼、誰、何、僕、私、我々

and 副詞・連体詞 to be written using kanji.

> 例（副詞） 余り、至って、大いに、恐らく、概して、必ず [...] (long list)
>
> 例（連体詞） 明るく、大きな、来る、去る、小さな、我が（国）

They go say 副詞 such as the following in should be written in kana.

> 例 かなり、ふと、やはり、よほど

They prescribe writing 御 in kanji when the word it is attached it is in kanji,
and kana when the word is in kana.

> 御案内、御挨拶 vs. ごもっとも

and they give the following 接尾語 to be written in kana.

> げ（惜しげもなく）、ども（私ども）、ぶる（偉ぶる）、み（弱み）、め（少なめ）

They prescribe writing in kana for 接続詞 such as the following

> 例 おって、かつ、したがって、ついては、ところが、ところで、また、ゆえに

and kana for the 助動詞・助詞 such as the following

> ない（行かない）、ようだ、ぐらい、だけ、ほど

Finally, they prescribe kana for a whole lot of words when used in certain
ways (take a look at キ under 1(2)) such as ある・いる expressing existence, the こと
in 許可しないことがある, **できる** such as in だれでも利用ができる, and te-form + verb
(てあげる、ていく、ておく、てください、etc etc)

* * *

My only problem with all this is: to what extent do prescriptive rules such as
these reflect actual usage? Writing te-form + verb in kana seems to generally
accepted, as does writing words such as わけ、はず、ようだ、だけ、ほど etc in kana.

However (and here I have a problem with TN's comment) 出来る in kanji is seen
**all the time** in contexts both formal and informal. 従{したが}って, ご案内 (not
using 御 as the Agency prescribes), 又{また}, etc are also common.

As [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/15732/question-about-
mixed-kana-in-%E3%81%8A%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B9%E3%83%A1) or [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/565/which-kanji-to-use-
for-
saying-%E3%81%82%E3%82%8A%E3%81%8C%E3%81%A8%E3%81%86%E3%81%94%E3%81%96%E3%81%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99-in-
emails) (see Uberto's answer and Tsuyoshi Ito's comment) for example show, a
writer can make use of the 3 writing systems in Japanese to give different
impressions (オススメ vs お勧め, ありがとうございます vs 有難う御座います). Some of these will only be
appropriate to casual writing, sometimes you will have a choice even in formal
writing. This is one of the most fun/interesting parts of Japanese, though I
don't know how one could comprehensively describe it...

