漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
河: river
JLPT N28 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met
氵 carries the meaning · 可 gives the sound
8 strokes
Two readings, and the words that use each
カka · on'yomi · in compounds
- 河川かせんrivers and streams
- 河口かこうmouth of river, estuary
- 運河うんがcanal, waterway
- 銀河ぎんがMilky Way, galaxy
- 大河たいがlarge river
かわkawa · kun'yomi · on its own
- 河かわriver, stream
- 河底かわぞこriver bed
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 魚河岸うおがしriverside fish market
- 河原かわらdry river bed, river beach
- 河豚ふぐfugu, blowfish
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Imagine three raindrops falling—that's sanzui! Whenever you see these three dots on the left side of a kanji, think of water, liquids, or anything that flows.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side河 river · 氵
vs奇 strange · 大In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · hé
Same form: 河 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 河 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 河 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin hé 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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