年 — how to write the kanji for “year”
年 (“year” and “counter for years”) is a JLPT N5 kanji taught in first grade in Japan. In newspapers it is one of the hundred most used kanji (6th). It starts with the left-falling sweep, before the horizontal that crosses it. On its own it is the word toshi, “year; age”. Read nen, it forms 前年 (“the preceding year”), 年間 (“(period of) a year”) and 昨年 (“last year”); the native reading toshi gives 今年 (“this year”). Chinese reads it nián, “year”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 6
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 干 (“dry”)
- On
- ネン
- Kun
- とし
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Its parts: 丿 (“slash”), stroke 1; 干 (“dry”, its radical), strokes 2–3; 干 (“dry”, its radical), stroke 6, each finished before the next.
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑leftdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 6 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
The trap in 年
Stroke 1 is the left-falling stroke and stroke 2 the horizontal, the same as in 右; 左 does the opposite.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ネン nen
- Kun (native)
- とし toshi
- Meanings
- year; counter for years
- Read nen
- 前年 年間 昨年 来年 周年 少年
- Read toshi
- 今年
- School year
- first grade
- Newspaper rank
- 6th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 년 nyeon
- Common words
- 119 in JMdict
Words with 年
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今年 | ことし kotoshi | this year |
| 前年 | ぜんねん zennen | the preceding year; the previous year |
| 年間 | ねんかん nenkan | (period of) a year; during the era |
| 昨年 | さくねん sakunen | last year |
| 来年 | らいねん rainen | next year |
| 周年 | しゅうねん shuunen | whole year; entire year |
| 少年 | しょうねん shounen | boy; juvenile |
| 年生 | ねんせい nensei | nth-year student; nth-year pupil |
| 年金 | ねんきん nenkin | annuity; pension |
| 年齢 | ねんれい nenrei | age; years |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N5, in list order: