性
性 — Sex
sex, gender, nature
On’yomiセイ (sei)
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiさが (saga)
Stroke order (8 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 性
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 可能性 | かのうせい kanousei | possibility; chance; likelihood |
| 女性 | じょせい josei | woman; female; feminine gender |
| 男性 | だんせい dansei | man; male; masculine gender |
| 性格 | せいかく seikaku | character (of a person); personality; disposition |
| 必要性 | ひつようせい hitsuyousei | necessity; need |
| 活性 | かっせい kassei | activity; active |
Study notes
性 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #104 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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