Nihoner
漢字 Kanji list Games
Log in Play Kanji Duel

Commander

On’yomiしょう・そう
Kun’yomiまさ.に・はた・ひきい.る・もって
MeaningsCommander, General, Admiral
11 strokes Name kanji Radical inch
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 將

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

11 strokes
✎ Now write it yourself

Draw it on screen and be marked on stroke order and direction.

分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 將

Almost every kanji is built from a small set of reusable parts. Learn the parts once and you stop memorising thousands of unrelated shapes.

部首 · Radical

The radical of 將

Radical 41 of 214
Inch

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 將 is filed under (inch) — radical number 41 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 寸

練習 · Practice

Drill 將 right now

Three quick games built from this character's real data. Your streak is kept in this browser.

0Streak
0Best
0Correct
Tap to reveal
Commander しょう・そう まさ.に・はた・ひきい.る・もって
What does it mean?
Which kanji is it?
熟語 · In real words

Words that use 將

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.

將來 しょうらい future; (future) prospects; bringing (from abroad, another region, etc.)
將棋 しょうぎ shogi; Japanese chess
王將 おうしょう (senior player's) king; Ōshō (one of the eight major titles in professional shogi)
將校 しょうこう commissioned officer; military officer
大將 たいしょう general; admiral; head
軍將 グンショー army commander
謀將 ボーショー military general skilled at strategy
將た ハタ commander, general, leader; or, otherwise; furthermore, also
名乗り · Name readings

How 將 is read in names

Japanese names use readings that appear nowhere else in the language. These are 將's — the reason personal and place names are so hard to read even for native speakers.

まさる
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 將

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

画数 · 11 strokes

Other 11-stroke kanji

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

Think you know which kanji is more common?

Kanji Duel pits 將 and 3,000 others head to head. One life. How long can you last?

Enter the Duel →
質問 · Questions

About the kanji 將

What does the kanji 將 mean?

將 means Commander, General, Admiral.

How do you read the kanji 將?

將 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) しょう、そう; kun'yomi (native Japanese) まさ.に、はた、ひきい.る、もって.

How many strokes does 將 have?

將 is written with 11 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 將?

Japanese schoolchildren learn it in name kanji.

What is the radical of 將?

The radical of 將 is 寸 (inch), radical number 41 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 將?

Common words written with 將 include 將來 (しょうらい, future; (future) prospects; bringing (from abroad, another region, etc.)); 將棋 (しょうぎ, shogi; Japanese chess); 王將 (おうしょう, (senior player's) king; Ōshō (one of the eight major titles in professional shogi)).

Which kanji sound the same as 將?

將 shares a reading with 政 (しょう), 生 (しょう), 上 (しょう), 相 (しょう), 性 (しょう), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

None of this is being saved

Signed in, we would remember every character you have looked at — and write you reading you can actually get through, built from exactly those.

Start remembering — free
Free account · 3 passages a day · no card