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Kyōiku Kanji

然 — so / -like

Grade 4ぜん, ねん, しか

然 (readings: ぜん, ねん, しか; Japanese kanji) means “so / -like”. It is a Grade 4 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 4 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 自然 (nature).

What does 然 mean?

Kanji
Meaningso / -like
Readingsぜん, ねん, しか
GradeGrade 4 (Upper)
CurriculumKyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school

How to read 然

然 is read ぜん or ねん or しか depending on the word.

Example words with 然

Example自然 (nature)
Practice writing 然 — free
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Updated: 2026-07-14