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Word 2758 of 4449

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暗算

あんざん

mental arithmetic; working a sum out in one's head

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 彼は暗算をするほど頭が良くない。

    かれはあんざんをするほどあたまがよくない。

    He isn't sharp enough to do sums in his head.

  2. そろばんを習うと暗算が速くなる。

    そろばんをならうとあんざんがはやくなる。

    Learning the abacus makes you faster at mental arithmetic.

  3. 合計を暗算で出したら、店員の計算と一円違っていた。

    ごうけいをあんざんでだしたら、てんいんのけいさんといちえんちがっていた。

    I worked the total out in my head and it differed from the clerk's by one yen.

Common patterns

暗算が得意だ
to be good at mental arithmetic
暗算で計算する
to calculate in one's head
暗算が速い
to be quick at mental sums

Memory tip

暗 here is not "dark" but "without looking", the same 暗 as in 暗記 (memorising by heart) — arithmetic done with nothing written down. 筆算 is the opposite: working it out on paper.

Kanji in this word

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What does 暗算 mean?