Kanji: 質問答払箱

1. Vocabulary List

Kanji	Reading	English
質（しつ）	shitsu	substance; quality
問（もん）	mon	to ask; problem
答（え）（こたえ）	kotae	an answer
払（う）（はらう）	harau	to pay
箱（はこ）	hako	box
質問（しつもん）	shitsumon	a question
問題（もんだい）	mondai	question; problem
答え（こたえ）	kotae	an answer
〜代（だい）	dai	bill; fee (for utilities/services)

Kanji	Radical	Radical Meaning	Memory Hint
質	貝	shell	貝 is the base — shell has quality/substance
問	門	gate	Same part as 開, 閉, 間
答	⺮	bamboo	Same radical as 箱
払	扌	hand	Same radical as 持 — paying is done by hand
箱	⺮	bamboo	木 (wood) under ⺮ (bamboo) — a box made from bamboo!

〜代（だい）— utility/service bills: Attach 代 to the name of a utility or service to express the bill or fee for it.

Structure: [utility name] + 代（だい）
Examples:
- 電話代（でんわだい）= phone bill
- バス代（ばすだい）= bus fare
- ガス代（ガスだい）= gas bill

Example Sentences:

質問（しつもん）をする (shitsumon o suru) — "to ask a question"
この問題（もんだい）はむずかしいです。(Kono mondai wa muzukashii desu.) — "This problem is hard (to solve)."
この質問の答（こた）えが分（わ）かりません。(Kono shitsumon no kotae ga wakarimasen.) — "We don't know the answer to this question."
電話代（でんわだい）を払（はら）う。(Denwadai o harau.) — "I'll pay my phone bill."
猫（ねこ）は箱（はこ）の中（なか）にいます。(Neko wa hako no naka ni imasu.) — "There is a cat in the box."
バス代を払うとき、この箱にお金（かね）を入れてください。(Basudai o harau toki, kono hako ni okane o irete kudasai.) — "When you pay the bus fare, please put the money in this box."

Topic: Kanji for questions, answers, paying, and boxes
Cultural Note (Bus fares in Japan): When paying bus fares in cash, you don't hand money directly to the bus driver. Instead, you put the fare in a 箱 (box) next to the driver. If you only have a 1,000-yen note, you can often get change on the bus.
問 vs 問題 vs 質問: 問 alone means "to ask/problem"; 問題 (もんだい) is a task or challenge to be addressed; 質問 (しつもん) is a specific question asked to someone.
Kanji readings matched: 問題 / もんだい; 質問 / しつもん; 答え / こたえ; 払う / はらう; 箱 / はこ