員 — how to write the kanji for “employee”
員 means “employee”, “member” and “number”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in third grade in Japan. In newspapers it is one of the hundred most used kanji (54th). Its parts sit stacked: 口 (“mouth”, its radical), strokes 1–3; 貝 (“shellfish”), strokes 4–10, each finished before the next. On its own it is the word in, “member”. Its common words take the reading in: 会員 (“member”), 委員 (“committee member”), 職員 (“staff member”) and 議員 (“member of an assembly”). Mainland Chinese writes it 员 (yuán, “person engaged in a certain field of activity”), an HSK 3 character.
- Strokes
- 10
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 口 (“mouth”)
- On
- イン
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕top leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒bottomdown and left
- Dot ㇔bottomdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (10 strokes in Japanese, 10 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- イン in
- Kun (native)
- none
- Meanings
- employee; member; number; the one in charge
- Read in
- 会員 委員 職員 議員 委員会 委員長
- School year
- third grade
- Newspaper rank
- 54th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 원 won
- Common words
- 61 in JMdict
Words with 員
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 会員 | かいいん kaiin | member; the membership |
| 委員 | いいん iin | committee member |
| 職員 | しょくいん shokuin | staff member; employee |
| 議員 | ぎいん giin | member of an assembly; member of the Diet |
| 委員会 | いいんかい iinkai | committee; commission |
| 委員長 | いいんちょう iinchou | chairperson; chair |
| 全員 | ぜんいん zen'in | all members; all hands |
| 役員 | やくいん yakuin | director; executive |
| 社員 | しゃいん shain | company employee; member of a corporation |
| 国会議員 | こっかいぎいん kokkaigiin | member of the Diet; Diet member |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: