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Kanji Information Sheet for 前 ( 
PDF version )
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| English: in front before | On-Yomi: ゼン | Kun-Yomi: まえ -まえ さき さと まい |
Bushu (Radical) Info:
八 (はちがしら) – eight
刀 (かたな) – sword
刈 (ガイ, カイ, か.る, かっ かり) – reap; cut; clip; trim; prune
八 (はちがしら) – eight
刀 (かたな) – sword
刈 (ガイ, カイ, か.る, かっ かり) – reap; cut; clip; trim; prune
Henshall Mnemonic: before cutting meat cut horns
Levels: JLPT N5 | JLPT 4 (old) | Grade 2
Frequency: #27 of the 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Frequency: #27 of the 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Common Words and/or Phrases Using this Kanji:
Click any individual kanji to view a similar information sheet for it.Click [K] to look up the word's individual character(s) at WWWJDIC.
Click [D] to look up the word at WWWJDIC (definition is the same but other useful features exist).
Click [Jisho] to look up the word at Jisho.org.
JLPT N5 Words
- 前 [まえ]
(n-adv,n-t,suf) (1) before; in front; fore part; ago; previously; (2) head (of a line); (3) in the presence of; lady (so-and-so); (4) (five minutes) to; (5) helping; portion [K] [D] [Jisho] - 名前 [なまえ]
(n) name [K] [D] [Jisho] - 午前 [ごぜん]
(n-adv,n-t) morning; a.m. [K] [D] [Jisho]
JLPT N3 Words
- 前半 [ぜんはん]
(n) first half [K] [D] [Jisho] - 以前 [いぜん]
(n-adv,n-t) ago; since; before; previous [K] [D] [Jisho] - お前 [おまえ]
(n) (1) (fam) you (sing); (2) presence (of a high personage) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前者 [ぜんしゃ]
(n) the former [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前進 [ぜんしん]
(n) advance; drive; progress [K] [D] [Jisho]
JLPT N2 Words
- 手前 [てまえ]
(n) before; this side; we; you [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前 [ぜん]
(n-adv,n,n-suf,pref) before; ago; former; previous; one-time; the above [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前後 [ぜんご]
(n-adv,suf) around; throughout; front and back; before and behind; before and after; about that (time); longitudinal; context; nearly; approximately [K] [D] [Jisho] - 直前 [ちょくぜん]
(n-adv,n-t) just before [K] [D] [Jisho]
JLPT N1 Words
- 前提 [ぜんてい]
(n) preamble; premise; reason; prerequisite [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前途 [ぜんと]
(n) future prospects; outlook; the journey ahead [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前売り [まえうり]
(n) advance sale; booking [K] [D] [Jisho] - 当たり前 [あたりまえ]
(adj-na,adj-no,n) usual; common; ordinary; natural; reasonable; obvious [K] [D] [Jisho] - 腕前 [うでまえ]
(n) ability; skill; facility [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前例 [ぜんれい]
(n) precedent [K] [D] [Jisho] - 事前 [じぜん]
(adj-no,n) prior; beforehand; in advance [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前もって [まえもって]
(adv) in advance; beforehand; previously [K] [D] [Jisho] - 建前 [たてまえ]
(n) face; official stance; public position or attitude (as opposed to private thoughts) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前置き [まえおき]
(n) preface; introduction [K] [D] [Jisho]
Other Popular Words Not Classified by JLPT
- 戦前 [せんぜん]
(n-adv,n-t) pre-war days [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前庭 [ぜんてい]
(n) front garden; front yard [K] [D] [Jisho] - 生前 [せいぜん]
(n-adv,n-t) while alive; during one's lifetime [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前倒し [まえだおし]
(n) acceleration (of payment schedule) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前頭 [まえがしら]
(n) fifth grade sumo wrestler [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前日 [ぜんじつ]
(n-adv,n-t) previous day; the day before [K] [D] [Jisho] - 中前 [ちゅうぜん]
(n) front of center field [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前年 [ぜんねん]
(n-adv,n-t) the preceding year; last year [K] [D] [Jisho] - 一人前 [いちにんまえ]
(n) (1) adult; full manhood or womanhood; (2) one helping; one portion [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前年度 [ぜんねんど]
(n-adv,n) preceding fiscal year [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前売り券 [まえうりけん]
ticket sold in advance [K] [D] [Jisho] - 昼前 [ひるまえ]
(n-adv,n-t) forenoon; just before noon [K] [D] [Jisho] - 最前線 [さいぜんせん]
(n) foremost line [K] [D] [Jisho] - 最前列 [さいぜんれつ]
front row [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前半戦 [ぜんはんせん]
first half of the game or match [K] [D] [Jisho] - 出前 [でまえ]
(n) catering; meal delivery service [K] [D] [Jisho] - 気前 [きまえ]
(n) generosity [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前部 [ぜんぶ]
(n) front part; fore; front [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前払い [まえばらい]
(n) payment in advance [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前文 [ぜんぶん]
(n) preamble; the above statement [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前方 [ぜんぽう]
(n) forward; frontward [K] [D] [Jisho] - 持ち前 [もちまえ]
(n) one's nature; characteristic [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前方後円墳 [ぜんぽうこうえんふん]
(n) ancient Imperial graves [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前面 [ぜんめん]
(n) front part; frontage; facade [K] [D] [Jisho] - 前夜 [ぜんや]
(n-adv,n-t) last night; the previous night [K] [D] [Jisho]
Acknowledgments
The sofware used to generate this kanji information uses the EDICT and KANJIDIC files. These files are the property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group at Monash University and are used in conformance with the Group's license.NOTE: I converted the sources just mentioned years ago and have never really updated so there may be some missing or incorrect information that has been addressed in the original sources but not here.
The first Stroke Order image used on this page is courtesy of Ulrich Apel's excellent open source KanjiVG project. The second image is from the folks at the excellent Jisho Japanese-English dictionary site and it too is based on KanjiVG.
Classifying the kanji and popular vocabulary by the new JLPT levels was done by consulting Jonathan Waller‘s JLPT Resources page, renshuu, Wictionary, and Nihongo Ichiban.
The Henshall Mnemonics are the copyright of Tuttle Publishing and are the result of the hard work by Professor Henshall. See the list I used here.
If you are curious about the lexicography shown in the word definitions, visit the WWWJDIC abbreviations and codes guide and the JMdict/Edict Lexicographical details page.