相
あい
together; mutually; fellow
By Nihongo PathUpdated
Examples
彼は相変わらず元気だ。
かれはあいかわらずげんきだ。
He's as cheerful as ever.
事故が相次いで起きた。
じこがあいついでおきた。
Accidents happened one after another.
二人は長年の相棒だ。
ふたりはながねんのあいぼうだ。
The two of them have been partners for years.
Common patterns
- 相変わらず
- as usual; as ever
- 相次ぐ
- to follow one after another
- 相棒
- partner; buddy
Memory tip
As the prefix あい- it adds 'together / one after another' to a native word: 相変わらず, 相次ぐ, 相棒, 相争う. Read そう the same character heads a different family (相談, 首相), so learn each compound as a unit rather than by rule.
Kanji in this word
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What does 相 mean?