Kanji Library
KanjiJLPT N2 › 浅

浅 — Shallow

JLPT N29 strokesGrade 4#1253 most used
shallow, superficial, frivolous, wretched, shameful
On’yomiセン (sen)
Kun’yomiあさ (asai)

Stroke order (9 strokes)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).

Common words using 浅

WordReadingMeaning
浅いあさい
asai
shallow; superficial; slight (wound)
浅はかあさはか
asahaka
shallow; superficial; thoughtless
浅見せんけん
senken
shallow view; superficial idea; (one's) view
浅瀬あさせ
asase
shoal; shallows; sand bar
遠浅とおあさ
tooasa
shoal; wide shallow beach
浅黒いあさぐろい
asaguroi
dark (skin, complexion, etc.); swarthy; tanned

Study notes

浅 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1253 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).

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