白 — how to write the kanji for “white”
白 (“white”) is a JLPT N5 kanji taught in first grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 483rd most used kanji. As one of the 214 traditional radicals it heads 36 kanji in KANJIDIC2. On its own it is the word shiro, “white; innocence”. Read haku, it forms 白人 (“white person”), 白書 (“white paper (government report)”) and 空白 (“blank space”); the native reading shiro gives 面白 (“amusing”) and 白星 (“white circle”). Chinese reads it bái, “white”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 5
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 白 (“white”)
- On
- ハク, ビャク
- Kun
- しろ·い, しら-, しろ
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Vertical ㇑leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 5 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Under the radical 白
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ハク haku, ビャク byaku (rare)
- Kun (native)
- しろ·い shiro-i, しら- shira-, しろ shiro (rare)
- Meanings
- white
- Read haku
- 白人 白書 空白 白紙 明白 白血病
- Read shiro
- 面白 白星
- School year
- first grade
- Newspaper rank
- 483rd of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 백 baek
- Common words
- 45 in JMdict
Words with 白
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 白人 | はくじん hakujin | white person; Caucasian |
| 白書 | はくしょ hakusho | white paper (government report) |
| 空白 | くうはく kuuhaku | blank space; blank |
| 白紙 | はくし hakushi | white paper; flyleaf |
| 明白 | めいはく meihaku | obvious; clear |
| 白血病 | はっけつびょう hakketsubyou | leukemia; leukaemia |
| 自白 | じはく jihaku | confession; admission |
| 面白 | おもしろ omoshiro | amusing; funny |
| 紅白 | こうはく kouhaku | red and white; colours for festive or auspicious occasions… |
| 白星 | しろぼし shiroboshi | white circle; white star |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N5, in list order: