社 — how to write the kanji for “company”
社 means “company”, “firm” and “office”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in second grade in Japan. In newspapers it is one of the hundred most used kanji (21st). Its parts sit side by side: 礻 (“altar”), strokes 1–4; 土 (“soil”), strokes 5–7, each finished before the next. Its common words take the reading sha: 会社 (“company”), 同社 (“the same company”), 本社 (“head office”) and 社会 (“society”). Chinese reads it shè, “society”, at HSK 4.
- Strokes
- 7
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 示 (“show”)
- On
- シャ
- Kun
- やしろ
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- Dot ㇔top leftdown and right
- Horizontal then left-falling ㇇top leftrightwards → down and left
- Vertical ㇑leftdownwards
- Dot ㇔leftdown and right
- Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottomrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 7 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- シャ sha
- Kun (native)
- やしろ yashiro (rare)
- Meanings
- company; firm; office; association; shrine
- Read sha
- 会社 同社 本社 社会 社長 社会党
- School year
- second grade
- Newspaper rank
- 21st of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 사 sa
- Common words
- 74 in JMdict
Words with 社
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 会社 | かいしゃ kaisha | company; corporation |
| 同社 | どうしゃ dousha | the same company; the said firm |
| 本社 | ほんしゃ honsha | head office; main office |
| 社会 | しゃかい shakai | society; public |
| 社長 | しゃちょう shachou | company president; manager |
| 社会党 | しゃかいとう shakaitou | Socialist Party |
| 社員 | しゃいん shain | company employee; member of a corporation |
| 副社長 | ふくしゃちょう fukushachou | executive vice-president |
| 民社党 | みんしゃとう minshatou | Democratic Socialist Party |
| 自社 | じしゃ jisha | one's company; company one works for |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: