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[iaai]

Hi there, I learned the kanji character for あたたかい (warm) and あたためる (to heat up) yesterday [温], only to find that there is strangely enough another character which is used for almost identical purposes [暖]. My question is, apart from being found in different compounds, is there a distinct difference? And what is the usual way to write あたたかい and あたためる?

[WCR91]

Hi there, I learned the kanji character for あたたかい (warm) and あたためる (to heat up) yesterday [温], only to find that there is strangely enough another character which is used for almost identical purposes [暖].

There's a nuance between these two kanji. 「温」means "warm" while 「暖」 means "warmth."

On the surface, it would seem as though the two can be used interchangeably.

When I looked at example sentences, however, It seemed as though 「暖める」is used more in the context of warming up a room, warming your hands on a cold day, and so on.

The examples I read for 「温める」, on the other hand, were more focused toward warming up food, etc.

Perhaps there is someone more enlightened who can elaborate on this. Good question.

[iaai]

Thank you for your help, I'll make a note of both usages but stick to 暖 for now.

I came across another one today. The word まぜる means to stir, to mix, to blend, but which kanji is most commonly used? 交ぜる or 混ぜる ?

[Jessi]

Good question!
I looked it up (native Japanese speakers as the same questions) and found that:

混じる／混ぜる are used when things are mixed together and you can't tell the difference between the two anymore (for example, mixing two liquids together)

交じる／交ぜる are used when things are mixed together but you can still tell the difference between the two (for example, hiragana and kanji characters mixed together in Japanese writing - you can still tell the difference)

I learned something new too

Your questions reminded me of a book I have called ビミョ～な日本語 which gives examples of words that have multiple kanji and explains when to use which kanji.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%BC%A2%E5%AD ... 717&sr=1-2