Recognize 千 in 千 and 三千; learn the whole words and use them in everyday sentences.

The idea

千 has 3 strokes; follow the order in the linked KanjiVG diagram. Read 千 as せん and 三千 as さんぜん. Learn each reading together with the whole word and its meaning.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
千せん1,000
三千さんぜん3,000
八千はっせん8,000
千円せんえん1,000 yen

Examples

  • この本ほんは千円せんえんです。This book costs 1,000 yen.
  • ホテルは三千円さんぜんえんでした。The hotel cost 3,000 yen.
  • 八千人はっせんにんがこのまちに住すんでいます。This town has 8,000 residents.
  • 二千円にせんえんをさいふに入いれます。I put 2,000 yen in my wallet.
  • このかばんは五千円ごせんえんです。This bag costs 5,000 yen.
  • 千人せんにんがこのまちに住すんでいます。A thousand people live in this town.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

The sound changes in 三千（さんぜん） and 八千（はっせん）. A plain thousand is normally 千（せん） without 一.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 千 in hiragana.

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    せん

    千 is read せん; it means 1,000. Remember the reading with the complete word.

  2. Write the reading of 三千 in hiragana.

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    さんぜん

    三千 is read さんぜん; it means 3,000. Remember the reading with the complete word.

  3. Complete the missing kanji from this lesson: 八＿（はっせん）.

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    千

    千 completes 八千, read はっせん; the complete expression means 8,000.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 千 from memory in stroke order, and read 千 and 三千 aloud. Then check their readings and meanings.