Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 5
姉 older sister
- Meaning
- older sister
- On reading
- シ
- Kun reading
- あね
Memory hook
女 (woman) beside 市 (market): the one old enough to go to the market on her own. シ in compounds. お姉さん onēsan for someone else's sister, あね for your own.
Words that use 姉
姉
あね
my older sister
お姉さん
おねえさん
older sister
How to write 姉
Stroke order · 8 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
- 1. Down, then out to the right.
- 2. The sweep down to the left.
- 3. Horizontal.
- 4. A short dot.
- 5. Horizontal.
- 6. Vertical.
- 7. Horizontal, then turn down, ending in a hook.
- 8. Vertical.
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).
姉 is taught on day 20 of the kanji course, alongside 妹 友 名, with two writing passes and a short quiz.