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Kanji Information Sheet for 何 ( 
PDF version )
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| English: what | On-Yomi: カ | Kun-Yomi: なに なん なに- なん- あが |
Bushu (Radical) Info:
人 (ひと) – person
化 (カ, ケ, ば.ける, ば.かす, ふ.ける, け.する) – change; take the form of; influence; enchant; delude; -ization
个 (カ , コ, こ, ひ) – counter for articles; individual
人 (ひと) – person
化 (カ, ケ, ば.ける, ば.かす, ふ.ける, け.する) – change; take the form of; influence; enchant; delude; -ization
个 (カ , コ, こ, ひ) – counter for articles; individual
Henshall Mnemonic: what exactly can a person say?
Levels: JLPT N5 | JLPT 4 (old) | Grade 2
Frequency: #340 of the 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Frequency: #340 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
- 何 [なに]
(int,n) what [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何 [なん]
(int,n) what [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何れ [どれ]
(n) (uk) well; now; let me see; which (of three or more) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何故 [なぜ]
(adv) (uk) why; how [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何時 [いつ]
(n-adv) (uk) when; how soon [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何時も [いつも]
(adv,n) (1) (uk) always; usually; every time; (2) never (with neg. verb) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何処 [どこ]
(n) (uk) where; what place [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何方 [どちら]
(n) (uk) which (of two); who [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何方 [どっち]
(n) (uk) which way; which one [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何方 [どなた]
(n) (uk) who? [K] [D] [Jisho] - 如何 [いかが]
(adj-na,adv,n) how; in what way [K] [D] [Jisho] - 如何 [どう]
(adv) (uk) how; in what way; how about [K] [D] [Jisho] - 如何して [どうして]
(adv,int) (uk) why?; for what reason; how; in what way; for what purpose; what for [K] [D] [Jisho]
JLPT N3 Words
- 何か [なにか]
(exp) something [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何で [なんで]
(adv) Why?; What for? [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何でも [なんでも]
(adv,exp) by all means; everything [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何とか [なんとか]
(adv,exp,n) somehow; anyhow; one way or another [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何も [なにも]
(adv,exp) nothing [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何故なら [なぜなら]
(conj) (uk) because [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何時でも [いつでも]
(adv) (1) (uk) (at) any time; always; at all times; (2) never (with negative verb); (3) whenever [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何時までも [いつまでも]
(adv) (uk) forever; for good; eternally; as long as one likes; indefinitely [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何処か [どこか]
(adv,exp,n) (uk) somewhere; anywhere; in some respects [K] [D] [Jisho] - 如何しても [どうしても]
(adv) (uk) by all means; at any cost; no matter what; after all; in the long run; cravingly; at any rate; surely [K] [D] [Jisho]
JLPT N2 Words
- 何しろ [なにしろ]
(adv,conj) at any rate; anyhow; anyway; in any case [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何となく [なんとなく]
(adv) somehow or other; for some reason or another [K] [D] [Jisho]
JLPT N1 Words
Other Popular Words Not Classified by JLPT
- 何かと [なにかと]
(adv) one way or another [K] [D] [Jisho] - 幾何 [きか]
(n) geometry [K] [D] [Jisho] - 幾何学 [きかがく]
(n) geometry [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何にも [なににも]
(n,int) everything; all [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何やら [なにやら]
(adv) something; for some reason [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何ら [なんら]
(adv,n) (1) whatever; what; what sort of; any kind of; (2) nothing whatever (with neg. verb) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何何 [どれどれ]
which (emphatic) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何回 [なんかい]
(n) how many times? [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何気無く [なにげなく]
unintentionally; calmly; inadvertently; innocently [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何故 [なにゆえ]
(adv) (uk) why; how [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何故か [なぜか]
(adv) somehow; for some reason; without knowing why [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何故ならば [なぜならば]
(conj) (uk) because; for; the reason why is .. [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何事 [なにごと]
(n) (1) what; something; everything; (2) nothing (with neg. verb) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何時頃 [いつごろ]
(n-t) about when; how soon [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何者 [なにもの]
(n) who; what kind of person [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何十 [なんじゅう]
several tens [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何人 [なんびと]
(n) everyone; every person; all [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何千 [なんぜん]
many thousands [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何度 [なんど]
(n) how many times?; how often? [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何百 [なんびゃく]
hundreds [K] [D] [Jisho] - 何遍 [なんべん]
how many times; how often [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.