料 – Kanji Meaning, Reading, and Common Words

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What does 料 mean in Japanese?

料 carries two ideas: materials to work with, and a fee you pay. Its number-one word is 料理 (ryouri, cooking / a dish), one of the most useful words in the entire N4 vocabulary.

料 is read リョウ in every common word and has no kun’yomi. On the materials side it gives 材料 (zairyou, ingredients); on the fee side, 料金 (ryoukin, charge), 無料 (muryou, free), 給料 (kyuuryou, salary), and 送料 (souryou, shipping fee). The rice radical 米 on the left recalls measuring out grain, which connects both senses.

Reading

On’yomi: リョウ (ryou)

Kun’yomi: —

Basic Information

Kanji 料
Meaning materials, fee, cooking
Stroke Count 10
JLPT Level N4

How to Understand This Kanji

The two senses split cleanly by position. When 料 ends a word, it usually means fee: 料金 (charge), 送料 (shipping fee), 授業料 (tuition), 入場料 (admission fee), and 給料 (salary, the fee for your work). When it starts or sits inside a word about making things, it means materials: 料理 (cooking, literally handling ingredients), 材料 (ingredients, materials). 無料 (muryou) is free of charge and its opposite 有料 (yuuryou) means paid; both appear on signs, apps, and websites everywhere.

Common Words

  • 料理（りょうり / ryouri） — cooking; a dish, cuisine
  • 料金（りょうきん / ryoukin） — fee, charge, fare
  • 無料（むりょう / muryou） — free of charge
  • 材料（ざいりょう / zairyou） — ingredients, materials
  • 給料（きゅうりょう / kyuuryou） — salary, wages
  • 送料（そうりょう / souryou） — shipping fee, postage

Example Sentences

  • 母は料理が上手です。

    はははりょうりがじょうずです。 / Haha wa ryouri ga jouzu desu.

    My mother is good at cooking.

  • このアプリは無料で使えます。

    このあぷりはむりょうでつかえます。 / Kono apuri wa muryou de tsukaemasu.

    You can use this app for free.

  • バスの料金は二百円です。

    ばすのりょうきんはにひゃくえんです。 / Basu no ryoukin wa nihyakuen desu.

    The bus fare is 200 yen.

Related Kanji

  • 金

    — Money/gold — 料金 (fee) = 料 + 金; the money kanji makes the fee sense of 料 concrete

  • 味

    — Taste — 料理の味 (the flavor of a dish); cooking words and tasting words live in the same sentences

  • 作

    — Make — 料理を作る (to make a meal) is the everyday collocation that puts 料 vocabulary into action

When Learners Usually See This Kanji

料理 (ryouri) does double duty: it is both the activity of cooking (料理をする, to cook) and a dish or cuisine (日本料理, Japanese cuisine). Master this word first; it anchors the kanji.

The 〜料 = fee pattern lets you decode signs without a dictionary: 入場料 (admission fee), 手数料 (handling fee), 送料無料 (free shipping), a phrase every online shopper in Japan knows.

Remember the pair 無料 (free) and 有料 (paid). 無 (without) and 有 (having) flip the meaning of the same fee word, and both appear constantly on menus, parking lots, and apps.

Summary

料 means materials in 料理 (cooking) and 材料 (ingredients), and fee in 料金, 無料, 給料, and 送料. Word position tells you which: trailing 料 almost always means a charge.