内
内 — Inside
inside, within, between, among, house, home
On’yomiナイ (nai)
On’yomiダイ (dai)
Kun’yomiうち (uchi)
Stroke order (4 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 内
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 国内 | こくない kokunai | within the country; inside the county; domestic |
| 市内 | しない shinai | in the city; within the city |
| 都内 | とない tonai | within the (Tokyo) metropolitan area |
| 内閣 | ないかく naikaku | cabinet (of a government); ministry |
| 内容 | ないよう naiyou | contents; content; substance |
| 以内 | いない inai | within; inside of; less than |
Study notes
内 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 4 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #44 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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