Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 5
私 I, private
- Meaning
- I, private
- On reading
- シ
- Kun reading
- わたし
Memory hook
禾 (grain) beside 厶 (private): the grain I keep back for myself. Private, and so 'I'. シ in compounds, わたし on its own.
Words that use 私
私
わたし
I, me
私立
しりつ
private
How to write 私
Stroke order · 7 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
- 1. The sweep down to the left.
- 2. Horizontal.
- 3. Vertical.
- 4. The sweep down to the left.
- 5. The diagonal down to the right.
- 6. The sweep, down to the left, then across to the right.
- 7. The diagonal down to the right.
Stroke data from KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
General rules
- Top to bottom, left to right.
- Horizontal strokes before crossing vertical ones (十 = horizontal, then vertical).
- Outside before inside - but close a box last (口).
- A vertical that passes all the way through comes last (中).
- Left-falling diagonal before right-falling (大).
私 is taught on day 21 of the kanji course, alongside 先 生, with two writing passes and a short quiz.