代
代 — Substitute
substitute, change, convert, replace, period, age
On’yomiダイ (dai)
On’yomiタイ (tai)
Kun’yomiかわる (kawaru)
Kun’yomiかわる (kawaru)
Kun’yomiかわり (kawari)
Kun’yomiかわり (kawari)
Kun’yomi-がわり (gawari)
Stroke order (5 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 代
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 時代 | じだい jidai | period; epoch; era |
| 代表 | だいひょう daihyou | representation; representative; delegate |
| 現代 | げんだい gendai | present age; present day; today |
| 世代 | せだい sedai | generation |
| 近代 | きんだい kindai | present day; modern times; recent times |
| 代理 | だいり dairi | representation; agency; proxy |
Study notes
代 is a JLPT N4 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #66 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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