Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons

軟: soft

JLPT N211 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

車 carries the meaning · 欠 gives the sound

11 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ナンnan · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 軟骨なんこつcartilage
  • 軟水なんすいsoft water
  • 軟着陸なんちゃくりくsoft-landing
  • 軟式テニスなんしきテニスtennis (played with soft ball)
  • 軟弱ななんじゃくなweak
  • 柔軟なじゅうなんなflexible, lithe
  • 軟化するなんかするsoften, mollify

やわらかいyawarakai · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 軟らかいやわらかいsoft, tender, limp

Also read やわらか, 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

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Look down on the world's first machines! This character shows the wheels and the frame of an ancient wagon.”
More in the 車 cart story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
車

Also built on cart (車)

All 19
欠

Also built on to lack (欠)

All 14

Also read ナン

5 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
軟 soft · 欠
vs斬 beheading · 斤
軟 has 欠 where 斬 has 斤.
In ChineseSimplified 软 · traditional, as in Japanese · ruǎn

Japan keeps the traditional form 軟; mainland China simplifies it to 软.

Simplified
软 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
軟 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin ruǎn 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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