Jisho

×

9 strokes
Radical:
knife, sword 刀 (刂)
Parts:
in front, before
Kun:
まえ-まえ
On:
ゼン
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 2
JLPT level N5
27 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 前 【ゼン】 last (i.e. immediately preceding), previous, ex-, former, pre- (e.g. premodern), before, before, earlier
  • 前衛 【ゼンエイ】 advance guard, vanguard, avant-garde, forward (player)
  • 中前 【チュウゼン】 front of center field, front of centre field
  • 風前 【フウゼン】 where the wind blows

Kun reading compounds

  • 前 【まえ】 in front (of), before (e.g. a building), before, earlier, previously, prior, ago, (minutes) to (the hour), (the) front, frontal part, fore, head (e.g. of a line), forward, ahead, (in the) presence (of), in front (of someone), previous (e.g. page), prior (e.g. engagement), first (e.g. half), former (e.g. example), portion, helping, front (of one's body or clothing), breast (of a coat, kimono, etc.), privates, private parts, criminal record, previous conviction, (a) prior
  • 前売り 【まえうり】 advance sale, booking
  • 左前 【ひだりまえ】 wearing a kimono with the right side over the left (normally used only for the dead), going badly (one's business, one's fortune, the economy), being in a bad financial situation, front left, front and left, before and left
  • 出前 【でまえ】 home delivery (of food), outside catering

Readings

Japanese names:
さき、 さと、 まい
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
qian2
Korean:
jeon

Spanish

  • antes
  • delante de

Portuguese

  • em frente
  • antes

French

  • devant
  • avant
102 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
177 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
159 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
38 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
595 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
139 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
23 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
921 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
2.3 Japanese for Busy People
47 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
47 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
29 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
196 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
2819 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1453 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1957 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
296 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
2011X Morohashi
2266 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
490 New Nelson (John Haig)
290 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
309 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
53 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
182 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
943 2001 Kanji
2o7.3 The Kanji Dictionary
2-3-6 SKIP code
2-2-7 SKIP code
8022.1 Four corner code
1-33-16 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
524d Unicode hex code

4 strokes
Radical:
script, literature
Parts:
sentence, literature, style, art, decoration, figures, plan, literary radical (no. 67)
Kun:
ふみあや
On:
ブンモン
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1
JLPT level N4
190 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 文 【ブン】 sentence, composition, text, writings, the literary arts (as opposed to the military arts), academia, literature, statement
  • 文化 【ブンカ】 culture, civilization, civilisation, Bunka era (1804.2.11-1818.4.22)
  • 公文 【コウブン】 official document, archives
  • 異文 【イブン】 variant (in a manuscript or book), part of a text that differs from other versions
  • 文 【モン】 mon, one-thousandth of a kan (unit of currency 1336-1870), mon, traditional unit used for shoe and sock sizes (approx. 2.4 cm), letter, character, sentence, scripture, incantation
  • 紋 【モン】 (family) crest, coat of arms, pattern, figure, playing card suit (in karuta)
  • 人文 【ジンブン】 humanity, civilization, civilisation, culture
  • 縄文 【ジョウモン】 straw-rope pattern pressed into earthenware, Jōmon period (ca. 14000-1000 BCE)

Kun reading compounds

  • 文 【ふみ】 letter, note, mail, book, writings, literary arts, learning, scholarship
  • 文香 【ふみこう】 scented insert (to enclose with a letter), perfumed insert
  • 御文 【おふみ】 Gobunsho (The Epistles, a collection of letters written by Rennyo)
  • 雁の文 【かりのふみ】 (a) letter
  • 綾 【あや】 figure, design, twill weave, pattern of diagonal stripes, style (of writing), figure (of speech), design, plot, plan, minor market fluctuation, technical correction, cat's cradle, lease rod (in a loom)
  • 文つける 【あやつける】 to make a false accusation, to invent a pretext for a quarrel
  • 言葉は身の文 【ことばはみのあや】 words betray one's character

Readings

Japanese names:
かざり、 ふ、 も
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
wen2, wen4
Korean:
mun

Spanish

  • letras
  • literatura

Portuguese

  • sentença
  • literatura
  • estilo
  • arte
  • decoração
  • figuras
  • plano

French

  • phrase
  • littérature
  • style
  • art
  • décoration
  • figure (de style)
  • plan
  • radical littéraire (no. 67)
134 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
77 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
68 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
136 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
2064 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
71 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
180 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
86 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
3.19 Japanese for Busy People
111 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
111 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
320 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
949 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
2458 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1242 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1708 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
1741 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
13450 Morohashi
1962 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2364 New Nelson (John Haig)
1725 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
1861 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
89 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
35 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
466 2001 Kanji
2j2.4 The Kanji Dictionary
2-2-2 SKIP code
0040.0 Four corner code
1-42-24 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
6587 Unicode hex code