何 Kanji: Meaning, Readings and Stroke Order

何: what; which; how many. JLPT N5; 7 strokes.

Readings

On readings

カ

Kun readings

なに、なん

Romaji

ka, nani, nan

Study notes

何 is the kanji for questions: 'what,' 'which,' 'how many.'

On readings: なに in front of particles such as が, を, も: 何がいい? (what is good?), 何を食べる? (what do you eat?). なん in front of sounds t, d, n and counters: 何で (なんで, why), 何の (なんの, what kind), 何時 (なんじ, what time), 何人 (なんにん, how many people), 何回 (なんかい, how many times). カ is rare and appears in 幾何 (きか, geometry).

Words: 何か (なにか, something), 何も (なにも, nothing, with a negative verb), 何度 (なんど, how many times; more than once), 何故 (なぜ, why), often written in hiragana.

Remember: with counters 何 asks for quantity: 何歳 (なんさい, how old), 何分 (なんぷん, how many minutes). 何時 is read なんじ (what time) but also いつ (when), which however is usually written in hiragana.

Example words

• 何時 (なんじ) — what time
• 何 (なに) — what

Example sentences

何を飲みますか。

nani wo nomimasu ka.

What would you like to drink?

Stroke order

Follow the steps in order. Each new stroke is highlighted.

Stroke paths: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sequential diagrams derived from the original paths.