📖 Meaning & Origin
The 人 radical represents a human figure — two strokes depicting a person standing with legs spread. As the left-side variant 亻, it appears in hundreds of kanji related to people, actions, and human concepts.
📚 Kanji by JLPT Level
✍️ Where it appears & how it changes shape
人 stands alone as a kanji, but on the left it becomes 亻, called にんべん: a vertical line with a short stroke at the top. This is one of the most productive side forms in the language: 休, 体, 何, 作, 使, 住, 便, 例. 人 also appears at the bottom of 会 and inside 今.
🔍 Don't confuse it with
Nearly the same two strokes, with the join at a different point. 人 is a person; 入 is to enter. Handwritten quickly they are easy to swap.
Three strokes rather than two, and it relates to walking or roads (行, 待, 後), not people.
📈 Beyond N5 — what comes next
| Kanji | Reading | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 作 | さく / つくる | to make | N4 |
| 使 | し / つかう | to use | N4 |
| 住 | じゅう / すむ | to live, to reside | N4 |
| 便 | べん / びん | convenience, mail | N3 |
JLPT does not publish official kanji lists by level. These levels follow the commonly used reference lists and are a guide, not a guarantee.
🗣️ Words you will actually meet
Irregular. 二人 (ふたり) works the same way; from three onwards it becomes regular.
Irregular. A jukujikun, unrelated to the usual readings of 大 or 人.
🎯 How to use this radical in JLPT study
にんべん is the single highest-return radical for a beginner. It marks human actions and human states, so a kanji carrying it is usually a verb or a description of someone. Learning to recognise it turns a large block of N4 and N3 vocabulary from unfamiliar shapes into educated guesses.
⚠️ The mistake I see most often
Confusing 休 (rest) and 体 (body). Both are 亻 plus something, and the difference is only whether the right side is 木 or 本. Read the right-hand component carefully rather than recognising the silhouette.
💡 Teacher's Memory Tip
Two legs spread apart — a person walking. When you see 亻 on the left of a kanji, something human is happening: a person doing, feeling, or being.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
The 人 radical means 'person' or 'human.' It's one of the most common radicals — the 亻 variant on the left side of kanji signals a human connection.
N5 kanji with 人/亻: 人 (person), 休 (rest — person 人 leaning against a tree 木), 体 (body — person's physical form), 何 (what — contains 亻).
Two strokes like a person walking — left leg and right leg. Or see the 亻 on the left edge of a kanji as someone leaning in to do something.
Other N5 Radicals
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