Is WaniKani telling you that your answer is wrong, or correct but not accepted? Odds are it’s one of the following reasons:

Readings vs Meanings

Kanji (and vocabulary) have two parts to them: a meaning and a reading. Be sure to pay attention to what the review is asking for. One big giveaway is that “reading” answers will automatically be changed to kana and “meaning” answers will stay in English.

Read more about readings and meanings.

Multiple Readings

Lots of kanji have multiple readings, like 大 (たい, だい) or 力 (りき, りょく). You’ll want to put in just one of the answers, not both. Some items have a lot of possible answers, and we don’t want people to spend thirty seconds typing them all out.

Read more about the different readings kanji can have.

Small Characters

Most likely, you are putting in a big や, ゆ, or よ instead of a small one. The difference is big, and it’s important to get these correct. For example, じゆう means “freedom,” so if you wrote that in instead of じゅう you would be saying something completely different. If you enter the wrong one, you’ll see a shake animation with a hint to help you type it correctly.

Read more about small characters and how to type them.

Verbs

WaniKani needs to know that you know that verbs are verbs, so you’ll always need to put a “to” at the beginning of your answer. For example, for 入る you’ll need to type “to enter” instead of just “enter” (which is the meaning for 入).

If you forget to enter the “to,” you’ll see a shake animation with a reminder that it’s a verb, to help you get into the habit.