千
千 — Thousand
thousand
On’yomiセン (sen)
Kun’yomiち (chi)
Stroke order (3 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 千
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 千 | せん sen | thousand; 1,000 |
| 三千 | さんぜん sanzen | 3000; three thousand; many |
| 四千 | よんせん yonsen | four thousand; 4,000 |
| 千代 | ちよ chiyo | thousand years; thousand generations; thousand ages |
| 千里 | せんり senri | 1000 ri; (a) long distance |
| 千秋楽 | せんしゅうらく senshuuraku | final day of a performance; closing date; final show |
Study notes
千 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 3 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 1), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #195 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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