車 — how to write the kanji for “car”
車 (“car”) is a JLPT N5 kanji taught in first grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 333rd most used kanji. As one of the 214 traditional radicals it heads 110 kanji in KANJIDIC2. On its own it is the word kuruma, “car; automobile”. Its common words take the reading sha: 自動車 (“car”), 下車 (“alighting”), 乗用車 (“(passenger) car”) and 列車 (“train”). Mainland Chinese writes it 车 (chē, “car”), an HSK 1 character.
- Strokes
- 7
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 車 (“car”)
- On
- シャ
- Kun
- くるま
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (7 strokes in Japanese, 7 strokes in Chinese).
Under the radical 車
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- シャ sha
- Kun (native)
- くるま kuruma
- Meanings
- car
- Read sha
- 自動車 下車 乗用車 列車 車両 電車
- School year
- first grade
- Newspaper rank
- 333rd of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 차 cha
- Common words
- 52 in JMdict
Words with 車
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 自動車 | じどうしゃ jidousha | car; automobile |
| 下車 | げしゃ gesha | alighting; getting off |
| 乗用車 | じょうようしゃ jouyousha | (passenger) car; automobile |
| 列車 | れっしゃ ressha | train; railway train |
| 車両 | しゃりょう sharyou | (wheeled) vehicle; car |
| 電車 | でんしゃ densha | train; electric train |
| 自転車 | じてんしゃ jitensha | bicycle; bike |
| 駐車場 | ちゅうしゃじょう chuushajou | parking lot; car park |
| 戦車 | せんしゃ sensha | tank (military vehicle); chariot |
| 拍車 | はくしゃ hakusha | (riding) spur; spurring on |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
JLPT N5, in list order: