階
階 — Storey
storey, stair, counter for storeys of a building
On’yomiカイ (kai)
Kun’yomiきざはし (kizahashi)
Stroke order (12 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 階
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 段階 | だんかい dankai | stage; step; phase |
| 一階 | いっかい ikkai | first floor; ground floor; one floor |
| 二階 | にかい nikai | second floor; upstairs |
| 階級 | かいきゅう kaikyuu | (social) class; rank; grade |
| 階段 | かいだん kaidan | stairs; stairway; staircase |
| 二階建て | にかいだて nikaidate | two-storied building |
Study notes
階 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 12 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #513 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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