然
然 — Sort of thing
sort of thing, so, if so, in that case, well
On’yomiゼン (zen)
On’yomiネン (nen)
Kun’yomiしか (shika)
Kun’yomiしかり (shikari)
Kun’yomiしかし (shikashi)
Kun’yomiさ (sa)
Stroke order (12 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 然
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 自然 | しぜん shizen | nature; natural; spontaneous |
| 当然 | とうぜん touzen | natural; right; proper |
| 依然 | いぜん izen | still; as yet; as it has been |
| 依然として | いぜんとして izentoshite | still; as yet; as of old |
| 天然 | てんねん tennen | nature; spontaneity; natural airhead |
| 突然 | とつぜん totsuzen | abrupt; sudden; unexpected |
Study notes
然 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 12 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #401 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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