Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

形: shape, form

Also: style

JLPT N37 strokesGrade 2Your ink: 白 Not met

彡 carries the meaning · 开 gives the sound

7 strokes

Five readings, and the words that use each

ケイkei · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 形容詞けいようしadjective
  • 形式けいしきform, format
  • 正方形せいほうけいsquare
  • 長方形ちょうほうけいrectangle
  • 形成するけいせいするform [v.t.]
  • 変形するへんけいするbe transformed, transform

ギョウgyou · on'yomi

  • 人形にんぎょうdoll

かたkata · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 形見かたみmemento

-がた-gata · kun'yomi

  • 手形てがたdraft, promissory note
  • 卵形たまごがたoval, egg-shaped

かたちkatachi · kun'yomi

  • 形かたちshape

Also read なり, 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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)井 (sound) + 彡 (meaning)

Source: Wiktionary, 形 (rev. 93425621), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Frame/pattern + three rays (彡). The outward "appearance" or "form" of a thing, emphasized by the fine lines that define its visible structure.”
From the 彡 hair-style story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
开

Also built on 开

彡

Also built on hair-style (彡)

All 13

Also read ケイ

41 kanji share this on'yomiAll 41

Also read ギョウ

6 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
形 shape · 彡
vs刑 punish · 刂
形 has 彡 where 刑 has 刂.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · xíng

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

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

Pinyin xíng 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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