Explore 戦 in historical accounts, sport and personal challenges. Learn each reading with its whole word.

The idea

戦 has 13 strokes; follow the linked diagram. In compounds it is often read せん, as in 戦争 and 試合’s synonym 対戦. The verb 戦う is read たたかう.

Patterns to compare
WordReadingExample
戦争せんそうWe learned about the war in history class.
対戦たいせんThe two teams will play a match tomorrow.
挑戦ちょうせんI will try a new sport.
戦うたたかうThey fought for peace.

Examples

  • 歴史れきしの授業じゅぎょうで戦争せんそうについて学まなびました。We learned about the war in history class.
  • 戦争せんそうは何年なんねんも前まえに終おわりました。The war ended many years ago.
  • 二つのチームは明日あした対戦たいせんします。The two teams will play a match tomorrow.
  • 私わたしたちのチームは試合しあいに勝かちました。Our team won the match.
  • 新あたらしいスポーツに挑戦ちょうせんします。I will try a new sport.
  • 彼かれらは平和へいわのために戦たたかいました。They fought for peace.

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

Watch out

戦争 means war, but 挑戦 means a challenge and 対戦 a match against an opponent. 戦 does not always refer to armed conflict.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 戦争 in hiragana.

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    せんそう

    戦争 is せんそう: the long vowels matter in both parts. It means war.

  2. Write the reading of 戦う in hiragana.

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    たたかう

    戦う is たたかう; the kana う is part of the written verb. It means to fight.

  3. Choose the missing kanji: 挑＿（ちょうせん）［戦／線］.

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    戦

    戦 completes 挑戦（ちょうせん）, a challenge or attempt.

Use it today

Write 戦 following the diagram, then cover the readings and read 戦争, 対戦 and 戦う. Make a sentence about a challenge.