Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

得: gain, get

Also: find, earn, acquire, can, may, able to, profit, advantage, benefit

JLPT N311 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met

彳 carries the meaning · 㝵 gives the sound

11 strokes
  • Oracle bone · Shang
  • Bronze · Shang
  • Today

Oracle bone and bronze: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Two readings, and the words that use each

トクtoku · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 得なとくなprofitable, economical
  • 得意なとくいなbe good at
  • お得意さんおとくいさんcustomer
  • 所得しょとくincome
  • 損得そんとくloss and gain
  • 納得するなっとくするconvince oneself, consent
  • 説得するせっとくするpersuade
  • 習得するしゅうとくするlearn, master
  • 獲得するかくとくするobtain, acquire

えるeru · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 得るえる/うるobtain, acquire
  • 得難いえがたいhard to get
  • 止むを得ないやむをえないunavoidable, inevitable

Also read うる, 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)

Source: Wiktionary, 得 (rev. 92491310), CC BY-SA 4.0

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

Also read トク

8 kanji share this on'yomi
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · dé

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

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

Pinyin dé 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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