Uses of "気"

[WalterWills]

I see this Kanji a lot and I often find it hard to understand what it means.

I know it has grammatical functions, such as 「気がある」、「気がする」、「気になる」。


I was wondering if anyone could tell me if it has more uses in grammar。

Thanks.



EDIT:　And can anyone suggest any good websites for finding grammar (stuff that you won't find in beginner textbooks)??　I recently added Jgram to my favourites list.

[Javizy]

There's no grammar behind it; it's idiomatic, so you can only understand each one as a unit. There are well over 100 idioms using 気, and I'm sure covering them is beyond the scope of any thread. Rather than websites, which tend to be bitty and unreliable, I'd like to recommend a textbook where you will find this stuff.


Kodansha's Dictionary of Basic Japanese Idioms

Entries are listed in alphabetical order, so it's easy to find what you're looking for, and it includes about 150 pages on 気, as well as hundreds of other useful idioms. There's a literal and interpreted translation for each one, along with a few example sentences and other notes (sometimes etymological ones which are quite interesting).

[WalterWills]

Ok thanks, I'll take a look at that dictionary. I have the Kodansha's Kanji Learner's Dictionary, that's a good book.

[DaemonForce]

気 alone is roughly translated(as is everything else) to be:

air
atmosphere
flavor
heart
mind
spirit
feelings
humor
intention
will

That's how Nintendo's first Jiten defines it. The current Jiten goes several pages in length beyond these raw definitions. I'd like to state that the reason I use the Jiten more than online dictionaries or anything else is due to the nature of this dictionary. I can search any kana/kanji by writing out the character(in proper stroke order) and by sounding out how the character is supposed to be read/spoken. It gets better. These things are used in context with example sentences.

I mainly see 気 used as something that defines an atmosphere/spirit more than anything. Rain and mood are probably the most common(How often does it rain in Tokyo?).

The other terms come forth with more complex writings than I'm currently exposed. To give you a better description I'll read blah blah blah(kana)...BAM! particular Kanji(気)....usually with another kanji ahead of it....blah blah blah(more kana).

Also, I'm finding it simple to speak certain writings with this character because it's one of the easiest kanji in existence.

This probably has largely to do with the fact that it's an imported character. That's right. One reading. Two ways of conjugation: き and け.
I almost always see き used. け is almost never used when I'm trying to sound out something unless き just sounds funny. That's my take on this character. =/