選
選 — Elect
elect, select, choose, prefer
On’yomiセン (sen)
Kun’yomiえらぶ (erabu)
Kun’yomiえる (eru)
Kun’yomiよる (yoru)
Stroke order (15 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 選
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 選挙 | せんきょ senkyo | election |
| 選手 | せんしゅ senshu | player (of a sport); athlete; team member |
| 選手権 | せんしゅけん senshuken | championship; title (of champion); championship game |
| 総選挙 | そうせんきょ sousenkyo | general election (of the lower house) |
| 当選 | とうせん tousen | being elected; winning a prize (in a lottery, raffle, etc.); being selected (for a prize, etc.) |
| 予選 | よせん yosen | preliminary contest; qualifying round; trial |
Study notes
選 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 15 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #57 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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