What does the kanji 半 mean?

The kanji 半 (nakaba) means "half, middle, odd number, semi-". It is a JLPT N5 character.

What kanji is "nakaba"?

"nakaba" is written with the kanji 半, meaning "half, middle, odd number, semi-". Its readings are onyomi (Chinese-derived) はん (han), kunyomi (native Japanese) なかば (nakaba). It is a JLPT N5 character.

How do you write the kanji 半?

Write 半 ("half") by following the correct stroke order. Use the interactive, step-by-step stroke order animation on this page to practise each stroke in sequence and build muscle memory.

What are the readings of 半?

半 has these readings: onyomi (Chinese-derived) はん (han), kunyomi (native Japanese) なかば (nakaba).

半“half” Kanjinakaba / han

JLPT N5

How to write 半

半 (half) kanji stroke order diagram with numbered strokes

Meaning and readings

Meaning

half, middle, odd number, semi-

Onyomi (音読み)

はん han

Chinese reading

Kunyomi (訓読み)

なか（ば） naka(ba)

Japanese reading

Practice 半 on paper — a printable tracing grid with stroke order

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Example sentences using 半

Human-reviewed sentence pairs from the Tatoeba corpus, with readings shown above the kanji.

6時半じはんに電話でんわしてください。
Call me at six-thirty, please.
時半 (じはん)
JP#2429718bytommy_sanEN#326485byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project
パンを半分はんぶん食たべました。
I ate half the bread.
半分 (はんぶん)
JP#10899758bysmall_snowEN#12455091byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project
半日はんにちのツアーはありますか。
Do you offer any half-day tours?
半日 (はんにち)
JP#121259bybunbukuEN#282747byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project

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Read 半 in a story

Short Japanese comics written so that every word in them is JLPT N5. One of them teaches this character — the match is on the words an episode teaches, not every character in its dialogue.