何 — how to write the kanji for “what”

何 (“what”) is a JLPT N5 kanji taught in second grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 340th most used kanji. KANJIDIC2 gives it 1 on reading and 4 kun readings, so the word decides how you say it. Its parts sit side by side: 亻 (“person”), strokes 1–2; 可 (“can”), strokes 3–7, each finished before the next. On its own it is the word nani, “what; you-know-what”. Its common words use the native reading nan, as in 何度 (“how many times”), 何でも (“any”), 何と (“what”) and 何とも (“really”). Chinese reads it hé, “what”, at HSK 4.

Strokes

7

JLPT

N5

Radical

人 (“person”)

On

カ

Kun

なん-, なに-, なに