Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

彼: he, that

Also: the

JLPT N38 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

彳 carries the meaning · 皮 gives the sound

8 strokes

Three readings, and the words that use each

ヒhi · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 彼岸ひがんequinoctial week

かれkare · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 彼かれhe, boyfriend
  • 彼等かれらthey
  • 彼氏かれしboyfriend
  • 彼らかれらthey; them

かのkano · kun'yomi

  • 彼女かのじょshe, girl friend

Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.

  • 彼方かなたbeyond; across; the other side

Also read かの, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0 · JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Take the first step on your journey! These three quick strokes show the left side of a bustling street or a person taking a brisk step forward.”
More in the 彳 step story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
彳

Also built on step (彳)

All 19
皮

Also built on skin (皮)

All 5

彼 takes the 皮 family's reading, ヒ (hi).

Also read ヒ

22 kanji share this on'yomiAll 22

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
彼 he · 彳
vs波 waves · 氵
彼 has 彳 where 波 has 氵.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · bǐ

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

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

Pinyin bǐ 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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