Back to dictionary
JLPT N57画 · 7 strokesradical 車grade 1freq #313

car, vehicle, wheel

On'yomi (音読み)

  • シャ

Kun'yomi (訓読み)

  • くるま

Mnemonic

An ancient cart viewed from above — central axle with two wheels.

About this kanji

The kanji 車 means car or vehicle, and it is commonly used both as a noun and in compounds. You read it as くるま (kuruma) in native Japanese, while its Sino-Japanese reading is シャ (sha). Two common compounds are 電車 (でんしゃ, densha), which means train, and 自動車 (じどうしゃ, jidousha), meaning automobile. This kanji represents not only cars but any form of wheeled transport. It's worth noting that when discussing transportation, 車 is often used to refer to automobiles specifically, while a train would be referred to separately using the compound for electric train.

Example sentences

  • 車が速いです。

    The car is fast.

Meanings across languages

English
car, vehicle, wheel
Tiếng Việt
xe, bánh xe
日本語
くるま, 乗り物
한국어
수레, 차
中文
车, 车辆
id
mobil
th
รถยนต์
es
coche
fr
voiture
de
Auto
pt
carro

Common compounds

  • 電車でんしゃtrain
  • 自動車じどうしゃautomobile

Want to actually learn this kanji?

The dictionary is one view. The Kanji 360 app wraps every character with mnemonic images, audio readings, stroke-order animation, story context, and SRS scheduling — free to start on iPhone, iPad, and Android.