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Turn Into

On’yomiせい・じょう
Kun’yomiな.る・な.す・-な.す
MeaningsTurn Into, Become, Get, Grow, Elapse, Reach
JLPT N3 6 strokes #116 most common Grade 4 Radical halberd
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 成

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

6 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 成

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

𠂊 part
+ radical halberd +
𠂊 part
+ radical halberd =
Turn Into
Why it sounds the way it does. The part 丁V is the phonetic component — it carries the sound rather than the meaning. That is why 成 is read せい. Roughly two-thirds of all kanji work this way, which makes unfamiliar readings guessable once you spot the pattern.
部首 · Radical

The radical of 成

Radical 62 of 214
Halberd

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 成 is filed under (halberd) — radical number 62 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 戈

練習 · Practice

Drill 成 right now

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

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Turn Into せい・じょう な.る・な.す・-な.す
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 成

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.

成長 せいちょう growth; development; growing up
成立 せいりつ formation; establishment; materialization
成果 せいか (good) result; outcome; fruits (of one's labors)
編成 へんせい composition; formation; organization
賛成 さんせい approval; agreement; support
結成 けっせい formation; combination
構成 こうせい composition; construction; formation
成績 せいせき results; record; grades
成功 せいこう success; achievement; succeeding (in life)
助成 じょせい assisting; assistance; fostering
名乗り · Name readings

How 成 is read in names

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

あきあきらしげそんたえなおなりなる
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 成

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

地名 · In place names

Japanese towns written with 成

Place names are where kanji readings get strange — and where you meet this character in the wild.

画数 · 6 strokes

Other 6-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

成 is the 116th 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 成

What does the kanji 成 mean?

成 means Turn Into, Become, Get, Grow, Elapse, Reach. It is the 116th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 成?

成 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) せい、じょう; kun'yomi (native Japanese) な.る、な.す、-な.す.

How many strokes does 成 have?

成 is written with 6 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 成?

It appears at JLPT level N3, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 4.

What is the radical of 成?

The radical of 成 is 戈 (halberd), radical number 62 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 parts is the kanji 成 made of?

成 is built from 𠂊 and 戈 (halberd) and 𠂊 and 戈 (halberd). Learning kanji as combinations of a few hundred reusable components is far more efficient than memorising each character as a separate shape.

Why is 成 read せい?

成 contains 丁V as its phonetic component — the part that carries the sound rather than the meaning, which is why 成 is read せい. Roughly two-thirds of all kanji are built this way, so spotting the phonetic component often lets you guess the reading of a character you have never seen.

What words use the kanji 成?

Common words written with 成 include 成長 (せいちょう, growth; development; growing up); 成立 (せいりつ, formation; establishment; materialization); 成果 (せいか, (good) result; outcome; fruits (of one's labors)).

Which kanji sound the same as 成?

成 shares a reading with 政 (せい), 生 (せい), 上 (じょう), 定 (じょう), 場 (じょう), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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