話 — JLPT N5 Kanji

話 (wa/hana-su): talk. JLPT N5 kanji.

Character Info

Kanji Strokes JLPT Radical Radical Meaning
13 N5 speech/word

Readings

Type Reading Romaji Notes
On (音) wa Chinese-origin (音読み)
Kun (訓) はな-す/はなし hana-su/hanashi to talk; talk/story

Meanings

  1. talk
  2. speak
  3. story
  4. conversation

Vocabulary

Word Reading Romaji English JLPT
話す はなす hanasu to speak / talk N5
電話 でんわ denwa telephone N5
話し合う はなしあう hanashiau to discuss N4
昔話 むかしばなし mukashibanashi old tale / folktale N4
会話 かいわ kaiwa conversation / dialogue N4

Stroke Order

Left: 言 (speech, 7 strokes). Right: 舌 (tongue, 6 strokes).

Mnemonic

Words (言) from the tongue (舌) — talking, using language.

Common Mistakes

話 (talk) vs 語 (language) — both have 言 on the left; 語 has 吾 (I/self) on the right.