始 — how to write the kanji for “commence”
始 (“commence” and “begin”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in third grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 244th most used kanji. KANJIDIC2 gives it 1 on reading and 3 kun readings, so the word decides how you say it. Its parts sit side by side: 女 (“woman”, its radical), strokes 1–3; 台 (“pedestal”), strokes 4–8, each finished before the next. Its common words take the reading shi: 開始 (“start”), 終始 (“beginning and end”), 年始 (“beginning of the year”) and 始末 (“management”). Chinese reads it shǐ, “to begin”, at HSK 2.
- Strokes
- 8
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 女 (“woman”)
- On
- シ
- Kun
- -はじ·める, はじ·める, はじ·まる
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- Left-falling then dot ㇛top leftdownwards → down and right
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Rising stroke ㇀leftrightwards
- Left-falling-turn ㇜top rightdown and left → rightwards
- Dot ㇔top rightdown and right
- Vertical ㇑centerdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕centerrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottomrightwards
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)
- -はじ·める -haji-meru, はじ·める haji-meru (rare), はじ·まる haji-maru (rare)
- Meanings
- commence; begin
- Read shi
- 開始 終始 年始 始末 原始 始発
- School year
- third grade
- Newspaper rank
- 244th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 시 si
- Common words
- 22 in JMdict
Words with 始
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 開始 | かいし kaishi | start; commencement |
| 始まり | はじまり hajimari | origin; beginning |
| 終始 | しゅうし shuushi | beginning and end; doing something from beginning to end |
| 年始 | ねんし nenshi | beginning of the year; new year |
| 始末 | しまつ shimatsu | management; dealing with |
| 始め | はじめ hajime | beginning; start |
| 始める | はじめる hajimeru | to start; to begin |
| 原始 | げんし genshi | origin; beginning |
| 始発 | しはつ shihatsu | first departure; first train |
| 手始め | てはじめ tehajime | outset; start |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: