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Mnemonics for the ぬ (nu) and め (me) Characters

In this section we will analyse the ぬ (nu) and め (me) characters.

Understanding the difference between these two characters is really much simpler than you may think. The ぬ (nu) character simply curls to the right, whereas the め (me) character doesn’t.

 

ぬ (nu) and め (me)

 
 
In terms of a mnemonic, let’s imagine that both of these characters represent a round noodle that is being held by a pair of chopsticks. The ‘V’ shape in both characters represents the chopsticks and the curl represents the noodle.

For the first character, ぬ (nu), we can see that the ‘noodle’ is extra long. Think of the long noodle as ‘no’ short for ‘noodle’.

In the second character, め (me), the end of the noodle has dropped off and fallen on the ground. You can recognise this has happened because the noodle is shorter. Because the noodle has fallen on the ground, a mess has been created. So think ‘me’ short for ‘mess’.

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