文章（ぶんしょう、bunshou）
- writing / text

The Japanese word 文章 means "text," "writing," "sentence," "composition," or "article." It refers to a piece of written material, which could range from a single sentence to a complete essay or book. It emphasizes the structure and content of written words. 文章 can also refer to the act of writing itself, though less commonly.

⚫︎この文章は難しい。 Translation: This text is difficult. ⚫︎文章を校正する。 Translation: To proofread the composition. ⚫︎彼女は美しい文章を書く。 Translation: She writes beautiful prose.

You use 文章 when you want to talk about written content in general. You can use it to refer to a specific piece of writing (like a letter, an email, or a chapter in a book) or to the quality or style of writing. It's a versatile word and can be used in various contexts.

The word 文章 is typically written using the kanji 文章. The reading is ぶんしょう in hiragana. There are no other common ways to write this word. The okurigana is standard and does not change.

⚫︎文 (ぶん) - This is a shorter form, meaning "sentence" or "text." It's often used in conjunction with other words to create new terms. ⚫︎文面 (ぶんめん) - This means "the text of a letter" or "the wording." ⚫︎記述 (きじゅつ) - This means "description" or "writing," emphasizing the act of recording something. ⚫︎作品 (さくひん) - This means "work" or "piece of work", often used in a creative context (e.g. 小説の文章 "prose of novel").

⚫︎There isn't a direct antonym. The opposite would be something that is not written, such as spoken words (言葉 (ことば) or 話 (はなし)). ⚫︎It can be argued that "blank page" 白紙 (はくし) can be considered as the antonym if it's considered to be the absence of written words.

この文章はわかりやすく説明されている。 ・Translation: This text is explained clearly. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the clarity of the written material using 文章.

彼女は文章構成に優れている。 ・Translation: She is good at composing texts. ・Explanation: This sentence focuses on the skill of structuring written pieces using 文章.

The word 文章 is composed of two kanji: 文 (bun) meaning "sentence," "writing," "culture," or "literature," and 章 (shou) meaning "chapter," "section," or "article." Together, they create a word that encapsulates the idea of written content that is sectioned and structured. The combination reflects the importance of both the content (written text) and its organization.