Japanese kanji 彼: he, she and others

The idea

彼 has 8 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram. Compare 彼（かれ） with 彼女（かのじょ）. Learn the reading with the whole word, not the character in isolation.

Examples

• 彼かれは駅えきで待まっています。He is waiting at the station.
• 彼女かのじょは日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうしています。She is studying Japanese.
• 彼かれの名前なまえは田中たなかです。His name is Tanaka.
• 彼女かのじょの彼氏かれしは料理りょうりが上手じょうずです。Her boyfriend is good at cooking.
• 彼かれらは同おなじ会社かいしゃで働はたらいています。They work at the same company.
• 彼方かなたに山やまが見みえます。Mountains are visible in the distance.

Watch out

彼女 can mean either “she” or “girlfriend”, depending on context; 彼氏 means “boyfriend”. In direct conversation a name or title is often preferable to a pronoun. Compare 彼 with 皮: 彼 has 彳 on the left. 彼方 is a literary way to say “the distance”.

Try it yourself

1. Write the reading of 彼 in hiragana.

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   かれ

   彼 is read かれ. In context: He is waiting at the station.

2. Write the reading of 彼女 in hiragana.

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   かのじょ

   彼女 is read かのじょ. In context: She is studying Japanese.

3. Write the missing kanji: ＿氏（かれし）.

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   彼

   彼 completes 彼氏, read かれし. In context: Her boyfriend is good at cooking.

Use it today

Write 彼 three times using the stroke diagram. Cover the table, read 彼 and 彼女 aloud, then check their readings and meanings.