使 — how to write the kanji for “use”
使 means “use”, “send on a mission” and “order”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in third grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 219th 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; 吏 (“officer”), strokes 3–8, each finished before the next. Read shi, it forms 使用 (“use”), 大使 (“ambassador”) and 行使 (“use”); the native reading tsuka-u gives 使う (“to use (a tool, method, etc.)”). Chinese reads it shǐ, “envoy”, at HSK 4.
- Strokes
- 8
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 人 (“person”)
- On
- シ
- Kun
- -つか·い, つか·う, つか·い
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top leftdown and left
- Vertical ㇑leftdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐toprightwards
- Vertical ㇑centerdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕centerrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards → down and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 8 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- シ shi
- Kun (native)
- -つか·い -tsuka-i, つか·う tsuka-u (rare), つか·い tsuka-i (rare), -づか·い -zuka-i (rare)
- Meanings
- use; send on a mission; order; messenger; envoy; ambassador
- Read shi
- 使用 大使 行使 大使館 使途 労使
- Read tsuka-u
- 使う
- School year
- third grade
- Newspaper rank
- 219th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 사 sa
- Common words
- 29 in JMdict
Words with 使
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 使う | つかう tsukau | to use (a tool, method, etc.); to make use of |
| 使用 | しよう shiyou | use; application |
| 大使 | たいし taishi | ambassador |
| 行使 | こうし koushi | use; exercise |
| 大使館 | たいしかん taishikan | embassy |
| 使途 | しと shito | purpose for which money is spent; the way money is spent |
| 労使 | ろうし roushi | labour and management; labor and management |
| 特使 | とくし tokushi | special envoy |
| 使命 | しめい shimei | mission; errand |
| 駆使 | くし kushi | using freely; making full use of |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: