How to write 近 (jìn, “near”)

近 (jìn), an HSK 2 character, means “near”, “close to” and “approximately”. It pairs a meaning part, 辶 (“walking”), with a sound part, 斤 (“axe”). On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 最近 (“recently”), 附近 (“nearby”) and 近日 (“the past few days”). Japanese reads it kin, “near”, as a JLPT N4 kanji.

Pinyin: jìn
Strokes: 7
HSK: 2
Radical: 辶 (“walking”)

Stroke by stroke

As a bottom-left wrap character it splits into 辶 (“walking”, the radical), strokes 5–7; 斤 (“axe”), strokes 1–4, written the inside first.

Left-falling stroke ㇒top rightleftwards
Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards
Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
Vertical ㇑rightdownwards
Dot ㇔top leftdown and right
Horizontal, turn, turn, left-falling ㇋leftrightwards → downwards
Right-falling stroke ㇏bottom leftrightwards

Names of the strokes

Japanese and Chinese

Japanese and Chinese draw all 7 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.

Japanese · KanjiVG · 7 strokes

Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 7 strokes

Where 近 comes from

walk

Meaning part: 辶 (“walking”)
Sound part: 斤 (“axe”)

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
jìn fourth tone	near; close to; approximately	—	最近附近近日近期

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 2
2021 standard: level 2
HSK 2.0: in a level 2 word
Words with it: 106 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 近

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
近	jìn	near; close to HSK 2
最近	zuìjìn	recently; soon HSK 3
附近	fùjìn	nearby; neighboring HSK 3
近日	jìnrì	the past few days; recently HSK 5
近期	jìnqī	near in time; in the near future HSK 5
近年来近年來	jìnniánlái	for the past few years HSK 5
接近	jiējìn	to approach; to get close to HSK 5
将近將近	jiāngjìn	almost; nearly HSK 5
近代	jìndài	the not-very-distant past; modern times, excluding recent decades HSK 5
靠近	kàojìn	to be close to; to approach HSK 5

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.

Keep going

HSK 2, in list order: