Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons

前: in front, before

JLPT N59 strokesGrade 2Your ink: 白 Not met

刂 carries the meaning · 歬 and 月 give the sound

9 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ゼンzen · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 午前ごぜんmorning, a.m.
  • 前日ぜんじつprevious day
  • 前回ぜんかいlast time

まえmae · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 前まえbefore, ago, former
  • この前このまえthe other day
  • 名前なまえname
  • 手前てまえin front of oneself, this side
  • 駅前えきまえin front of the train station
  • 斜め前ななめまえdiagonally in front of
  • 前売りまえうりadvance sale

Also read -まえ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Ideogrammic compound (會意)止 foot + 舟 boat

Originally 歬, an ideogrammic compound (會意): 止 (“foot”) + 舟 (“boat”) – a foot on a boat moving forward.

Source: Wiktionary, 前 (rev. 93409464), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Slice through it! This "standing knife" radical is all about precision and force.”
More in the ⺉ knife story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
月

Also built on meat (月)

All 63
刂

Also built on knife (刂)

All 27

Also read ゼン

10 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
前 in front · 歬 + 月
vs削 plane · 肖
前 has 歬 + 月 where 削 has 肖.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · qián

Same form: 前 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
前 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
前 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin qián most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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