半 — how to write the kanji for “half”
半 means “half”, “middle” and “odd number”; it is a JLPT N5 kanji, taught in second grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 224th most used kanji. Its parts: 丶 (“dot”), stroke 1; 二 (“two”), stroke 3; 十 (“ten”, its radical), strokes 4–5, each finished before the next. On its own it is the word han, “half; semi-”. Its common words take the reading han: 時半 (“half past (the hour)”), 前半 (“first half”), 半分 (“half”) and 後半 (“second half”). Chinese reads it bàn, “half”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 5
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 十 (“ten”)
- On
- ハン
- Kun
- なか·ば
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- Dot ㇔top leftdown and right
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top rightdown and left
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 5 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ハン han
- Kun (native)
- なか·ば naka-ba
- Meanings
- half; middle; odd number; semi-; part-
- Read han
- 時半 前半 半分 後半 大半 半年
- School year
- second grade
- Newspaper rank
- 224th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 반 ban
- Common words
- 37 in JMdict
Words with 半
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 時半 | じはん jihan | half past (the hour) |
| 前半 | ぜんはん zenhan | first half |
| 半分 | はんぶん hanbun | half |
| 後半 | こうはん kouhan | second half; latter half |
| 大半 | たいはん taihan | majority; more than half |
| 半年 | はんとし hantoshi | half a year; six months |
| 半数 | はんすう hansuu | half the number; half |
| 半導体 | はんどうたい handoutai | semiconductor |
| 過半数 | かはんすう kahansuu | majority |
| 朝鮮半島 | ちょうせんはんとう chousenhantou | Korean peninsula |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N5, in list order: