時 · time, hour

JLPT N5 kanji. Readings, meaning, and how the character is built.

時 means time, hour. It is a JLPT N5 kanji written in 10 strokes, read じ or とき. It combines 日 (day, sun), which carries the meaning, with 寺, which is there for its sound じ. It appears in 時間 (time) and 時計 (a watch).

筆順 · Stroke order

時 is written in 10 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

時 breaks into 2 parts.

• 日 semantic day, sun · left carries the meaning
• 寺 phonetic Buddhist temple · right carries the sound

Words that use 時

Word	Reading	Meaning
時間	じかん	time
時計	とけい	a watch
時代	じだい	era / age / period / times

Characters that share 寺

寺 tends to carry the sound じ. They carry it; they do not all mean the same thing.

	Reading	Meaning
寺	じ	Buddhist temple
時	じ	time, hour
持	じ	hold, have
侍	じ	waiter, samurai
峙	じ	tower, soar

Built from the same parts

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

• 曜day of week
• 書to write
• 明bright
• 映to reflect
• 早early
• 春springtime
• 者someone
• 音sound

Practise 時

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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