会う vs 合う

From this week on for a while, I am going to post a JLPT N4 level vocab quiz on Fridays. The first topic today is 会う and 合う, both pronounced as あう.

Question

“I’m meeting Emma. I get on very well with her.”
Which writing is correct?
a. エマさんと会います。エマさんとは気きが会うんです。
b. エマさんと会います。エマさんとは気きが合うんです。
c. エマさんと合います。エマさんとは気きが会うんです。
d. エマさんと合います。エマさんとは気きが合うんです。

I wrote about the kanji 合 this week and 会 a while ago.

Both 会う and 合う are read as あう and they look alike, so even Japanese native speakers sometimes make a mistake with these two.

会う is about meeting a person face to face while 合う is about meeting a target or being compatible.

気き is a difficult word to translate into English but here it means something like “spirit” or “mood”, so 気きが合う means “to have compatible spirit” or “to be like-minded.” It is a rather common expression, so you should remember it as it is. 

Today’s answer

The answer is b.

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