storey, stair, counter for storeys of a building
On'yomi (音読み)
- カイ
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- きざはし
About this kanji
The kanji 階 (かい) primarily means ‘storey’ or ‘floor,’ commonly used when referring to the levels of a building. It can also mean ‘stairs’ and is used as a counter for the number of storeys. As a noun, you might see compounds like 一階 (いっかい), meaning ‘first floor’ or ‘ground floor,’ and 階段 (かいだん), which means ‘stairs.’ Another example is 二階 (にかい), meaning ‘second floor.’ This kanji is often used in everyday conversations when discussing buildings or directions, so getting familiar with it will help you navigate places more easily in Japan.
Example sentences
彼は三階に住んでいる。
He lives on the third floor.
Meanings across languages
- English
- storey, stair, counter for storeys of a building
- Tiếng Việt
- tầng, cầu thang
- 日本語
- 階, 階段
- 한국어
- 층, 계단
- 中文
- 楼层, 阶梯
- id
- lantai
- th
- ชั้น
- es
- piso
- fr
- étage
- de
- Stockwerk
- pt
- andares
Common compounds
- 一階いっかいfirst floor, ground floor, one floor
- 階級かいきゅう(social) class, rank, grade
- 階段かいだんstairs, stairway, staircase
- 段階だんかいstage, step, phase
- 二階にかいsecond floor, upstairs
- 二階建てにかいだてtwo-storied building
- 階層かいそうclass, level, stratum
- 現段階げんだんかいpresent stage, current phase, current rank
Want to actually learn this kanji?
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