Japanese kanji 人: person

The idea

A kanji can have Japanese-origin readings (kun) and readings borrowed through Chinese (on); learn each reading with its word. Compare 人（ひと） and 一人（ひとり） in the table. 人 has 2 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram.

Examples

• ここに人ひとがいます。There is someone here.
• 一人ひとりで駅えきへ行いきます。I go to the station alone.
• ここに二人ふたりいます。There are two people here.
• 私わたしは日本人にほんじんです。I am Japanese.
• あの人ひとは先生せんせいです。That person is a teacher.
• 三人さんにんで水みずを飲のみます。The three of us drink water together.

Watch out

一人 and 二人 have the special readings ひとり and ふたり; 三人 is さんにん. Compare 人 with the similar-looking 入 and notice their different stroke shapes.

Try it yourself

1. Write the reading of 一人 in hiragana.

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   ひとり

   一人 is read ひとり; the whole expression means one person; alone. This is a conventional reading of the whole word; it cannot be predicted from the characters one by one.

2. Write the reading of 二人 in hiragana.

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   ふたり

   二人 is read ふたり; the whole expression means two people. This is a conventional reading of the whole word; it cannot be predicted from the characters one by one.

3. Fill in the missing kanji: 日本＿（にほんじん）.

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   人

   人 completes 日本人, which is read にほんじん. The completed expression means Japanese person.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 人 from memory, and read 人 and 一人 aloud. Then check both readings and meanings.