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Kanji · first appears in JLPT N5 vocabulary
前

前 – in front, before

9 strokesTaught in grade 2#27 in newspaper frequencyN5 vocabulary

The kanji 前 means in front, before. Its on’yomi (Chinese-derived reading) is ゼン (zen); its kun’yomi (native Japanese reading) is まえ、-まえ (mae, mae). It is written with 9 strokes, under radical 刀 (no. 18).

Stroke order

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Stroke order from KanjiVG. Practise others with the stroke order lookup.

Readings

TypeReadingRomaji
On’yomiゼンzen
Kun’yomiまえmae
Kun’yomi-まえmae

A dot separates the kanji’s part from the okurigana (kana written after it), e.g. まな.ぶ → 学ぶ.

Radical and components

Radical: (Kangxi radical 18). Components: 一・刈・月・并.

Words using 前

前まえin front (of)午前ごぜんmorning名前なまえname以前いぜんbeforeお前おまえyou前者ぜんしゃthe former前進ぜんしんadvance当たり前あたりまえnatural前もってまえもってin advance前ぜんlast (i.e. immediately preceding)前後ぜんごfront and rear直前ちょくぜんjust before手前てまえbefore oneself腕前うでまえability事前じぜんprior前提ぜんていcondition前途ぜんとfuture前例ぜんれいprecedent建前たてまえface前売まえうりadvance sale前置きまえおきpreface真ん前まんまえright in front

Example sentences

我が家の前には狭い庭があります。
There is a small garden in front of my house.
Tatoeba #186438
部屋に入る前に靴を脱ぎなさい。
Take your shoes off before you come into the room.
Tatoeba #84196
父は２年前に亡くなった。
My father passed away two years ago.
Tatoeba #84774

Kanji with the same radical

分制初判利別割切副券劇創則削刊刑

Sources: KANJIDIC2 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0), Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). About the data.