事 · thing, matter

JLPT N4 kanji. Readings, meaning, and how the character is built.

事 means thing, matter. It is a JLPT N4 kanji written in 8 strokes, read こと or じ. It is built from 3 parts: 口 (mouth), ⺕ (snout, hand), 亅 (feathered stick, barb radical (no. 6)). It appears in 仕事 (work / job) and 大事 (important / valuable / serious matter).

筆順 · Stroke order

事 is written in 8 strokes, in the order numbered below. Order matters: it is what makes handwriting legible, and it is how the character is looked up in a paper dictionary.

解字 · What it is made of

事 breaks into 3 parts.

• 口 other mouth component
• ⺕ other snout, hand component
• 亅 semantic feathered stick, barb radical (no. 6) carries the meaning

Words that use 事

Word	Reading	Meaning
事	こと	thing(s) / matter(s) / fact
仕事	しごと	work / job
大事	だいじ	important / valuable / serious matter

Built from the same parts

These use 口 or ⺕ or 亅 too. The part keeps its job from one character to the next, which is what makes it worth learning once.

• 員member
• 向to face
• 合to fit
• 味taste
• 問question
• 言say

Practise 事

Sumi teaches the character before it tests you: stroke order animated, the breakdown above shown as a pull-apart X-ray, then spaced review. Free, in your browser, no signup.

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