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Heart

On’yomiしん
Kun’yomiこころ・-ごころ
MeaningsHeart, Mind, Spirit, Heart Radical (no. 61)
JLPT N4 4 strokes #156 most common Grade 2 Radical heart
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 心

Stroke order is not decoration — it determines how the character looks handwritten and how dictionaries index it.

4 strokes
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部首 · Radical

The radical of 心

Radical 61 of 214
Heart

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 心 is filed under (heart) — radical number 61 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 心

練習 · Practice

Drill 心 right now

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Heart しん こころ・-ごころ
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 心

Kanji are almost never met alone. These are the most common words built from this character, ordered by how often they actually appear in Japanese.

中心 ちゅうしん center; centre; middle
関心 かんしん concern; interest
心不全 しんふぜん heart failure
心理 しんり state of mind; mentality; psychology
心配 しんぱい worry; concern; anxiety
心臓 しんぞう heart; guts; nerve
安心 あんしん peace of mind; relief; (sense of) security
熱心 ねっしん zealous; enthusiastic; ardent
都心 としん city centre (esp. of Tokyo); heart of a city; downtown area
住み心地 すみごこち (level of) comfort (in the place one lives)
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 心

Japanese has far more kanji than syllables, so one reading is shared by many characters. These are the ones you will confuse with 心 — learn them together, not separately.

画数 · 4 strokes

Other 4-stroke kanji

Useful when looking a character up by stroke count — and a common source of visual mix-ups.

頻度 · Frequency

Next in the frequency list

心 is the 156th most common kanji in written Japanese. Learning in frequency order is the fastest route to reading real text.

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質問 · Questions

About the kanji 心

What does the kanji 心 mean?

心 means Heart, Mind, Spirit, Heart Radical (no. 61). It is the 156th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 心?

心 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) しん; kun'yomi (native Japanese) こころ、-ごころ.

How many strokes does 心 have?

心 is written with 4 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 心?

It appears at JLPT level N4, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 2.

What is the radical of 心?

The radical of 心 is 心 (heart), radical number 61 of the 214 Kangxi radicals. The radical is the component a dictionary files the character under, and it usually points at the character's meaning.

What words use the kanji 心?

Common words written with 心 include 中心 (ちゅうしん, center; centre; middle); 関心 (かんしん, concern; interest); 心不全 (しんふぜん, heart failure).

Which kanji sound the same as 心?

心 shares a reading with 新 (しん), 進 (しん), 参 (しん), 信 (しん), 真 (しん), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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