茶 — how to write the kanji for “tea”
茶 (“tea”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in second grade in Japan. Its parts: 艹 (“grass”), strokes 1–3; 人 (“person”), strokes 4–5; 木 (“tree”), strokes 6–9, each finished before the next. On its own it is the word cha, “tea; tea plant (Camellia sinensis)”. Its common words take the reading cha: お茶 (“tea”), 紅茶 (“black tea”), 茶色 (“brown”) and 茶の間 (“(Japanese-style) living room”). Chinese reads it chá, “tea”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 9
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 艸 (“grass”)
- On
- チャ, サ
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏topdown and right
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑centerdownwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒bottom leftdown and left
- Dot ㇔bottomdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 9 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- チャ cha, サ sa
- Kun (native)
- none
- Meanings
- tea
- Read cha
- お茶 紅茶 茶色 茶の間 茶屋 緑茶
- Read sa
- 喫茶店 茶道 喫茶
- School year
- second grade
- Newspaper rank
- 1116th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 다 da
- Common words
- 19 in JMdict
Words with 茶
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お茶 | おちゃ ocha | tea; tea break |
| 喫茶店 | きっさてん kissaten | coffee shop; tearoom |
| 紅茶 | こうちゃ koucha | black tea |
| 茶色 | ちゃいろ chairo | brown; light brown |
| 茶の間 | ちゃのま chanoma | (Japanese-style) living room |
| 茶道 | さどう sadou | tea ceremony; Way of Tea |
| 茶屋 | ちゃや chaya | teahouse; (Edo period) rest stop |
| 喫茶 | きっさ kissa | tea drinking; teahouse |
| 緑茶 | りょくちゃ ryokucha | green tea; Japanese tea |
| 茶室 | ちゃしつ chashitsu | tearoom; tea house |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: