車 Kanji: Meaning, Readings and Stroke Order

車: car; vehicle; wheel. JLPT N5; 7 strokes.

Readings

On readings

シャ

Kun readings

くるま

Romaji

sha, kuruma

Study notes

車 means 'vehicle, wheel, automobile'; the kanji depicts a carriage viewed from above.

On reading: シャ in 電車 (でんしゃ, train), 自動車 (じどうしゃ, automobile), 自転車 (じてんしゃ, bicycle), 駐車場 (ちゅうしゃじょう, parking), 列車 (れっしゃ, train), 乗車 (じょうしゃ, get on a vehicle), 下車 (げしゃ, get off a vehicle).

Kun reading: くるま, 'automobile; vehicle; wheel': 車椅子 (くるまいす, wheelchair). In compound it becomes ぐるま: 歯車 (はぐるま, gear).

Special readings: 山車 (だし, festive allegorical carriage) is read as a whole word.

Remember: 〜号車 (ごうしゃ) indicates the car number of a train (三号車, third car).

Example words

• 自転車 (じてんしゃ) — bicycle
• 電車 (でんしゃ) — train
• 車 (くるま) — car; vehicle

Example sentences

車で行きます。

kuruma de ikimasu.

I will go by car.

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.