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first floor, ground floor, one floor
- 階級(social) class, rank, grade
- 階段stairs, stairway, staircase
- 段階stage, step, phase
- 二階second floor, upstairs
- 二階建てtwo-storied building
- 階層class, level, stratum
- 現段階present stage, current phase, current rank
Words using this kanji
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