始 · to start, begin

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

始 means to start, begin. It is a JLPT N4 kanji written in 8 strokes, read はじめる or し. It is built from 2 parts: 女 (woman, female), 台 (pedestal, a stand). It appears in 始まる ((something) begins) and 始める (to start / to begin).

筆順 · Stroke order

始 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

始 breaks into 2 parts.

• 女 semantic woman, female · left carries the meaning
• 台 other pedestal, a stand · right component

Words that use 始

Word	Reading	Meaning
始まる	はじまる	(something) begins
始める	はじめる	to start / to begin
原始	げんし	origin / primeval

Built from the same parts

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

• 姉older sister
• 妹younger sister
• 好like

Practise 始

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.

Start with kanji, free