Kanji N2

階: storey, stair, counter for storeys of a building

階 is a JLPT N2 kanji meaning storey, stair, counter for storeys of a building, written with 12 strokes. It is read カイ (on) and きざはし (kun). Children in Japan learn it in grade 3. You will see it in 段階 (だんかい, stage) and 階段 (かいだん, stairs).

階

Meanings

  • storey
  • stair
  • counter for storeys of a building
Strokes12
JLPT levelN2
School gradeGrade 3
Frequency#513 of 2,500

On reading · Kun reading

On reading
  • カイ

On'yomi: from Chinese, written in katakana. Used in compound words.

Kun reading
  • きざはし

Kun'yomi: native Japanese, in hiragana. The faint part is the okurigana, written in kana after the kanji.

Watch the stroke order

Every stroke in order, the live one in vermilion. Replay as often as you like.

123456789101112

Now draw it

Trace each stroke in order. Wrong direction or wrong order gets flagged right away.

1234567891011120 / 12

Your turn: draw stroke 1 of 12. Start at the dot.

Common words with 階

The most useful words written with it, easiest first. Every other kanji in them opens its own page.

  • 段階だんかい

    stage; step; phase

    JLPT N2
  • 階段かいだん

    stairs; stairway; staircase

    JLPT N5
  • 二階建てにかいだて

    two-storied building

    JLPT N4
  • 階かい

    storey; story; floor

    JLPT N1
  • 階級かいきゅう

    (social) class

    JLPT N1
  • 階層かいそう

    class; level; stratum; layer; hierarchy

    JLPT N1
  • 現段階げんだんかい

    present stage; current phase

  • 音階おんかい

    scale

Learn Japanese with a path that remembers you

Naraio opens soon: one guided path from hiragana to N1, reviews at the right moment, a tutor who listens and kanji checked stroke by stroke. Leave your email and you're among the first in, free to start.

One note now, one email the day we open. Nothing else. Privacy.

Stroke order from KanjiVG © Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0. Readings, meanings and words from KANJIDIC2 and JMdict, names from JMnedict, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata, CC0; the Spanish meanings they lack, translated by Naraio from their English, are shared under the same licence. Example sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR. JLPT lists after Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk), CC BY. Sentences split into words with IPADIC © NAIST and IPA, through Lindera.