Kanji 中 — "Middle"
Here is what 中 means, how it is read, what it is built from, and a story that makes "Middle" stick.
Also means: In, Inside
How it is read
ちゅう
the reading borrowed from Chinese — usually appears in compound words
なか, うち, あた.る
the native Japanese reading — usually appears when the kanji stands alone
How to remember it
Kanji are not random strokes. Learn the parts and the whole becomes easy. Put the parts together into one picture. The stranger it is, the harder it is to forget.
A Staff planted right in the Middle of a Mouth-shaped gateway — that's why this kanji means middle!
- 口 Mouth
This square shape is a Mouth. When you see it, think of a mouth. It's a mouth that's wide open, telling you something.
- 丨 Staff
A straight vertical line is the shape of a Staff.
Words that use 中
12 of 52 words in the app that contain this kanji — the most common ones first.
- 中 なか / ちゅう inside, middle
- 中々 なかなか very, quite, considerably
- 連中 れんちゅう colleagues, company, a lot
- 世の中 よのなか society, the world
- 途中 とちゅう on the way, midway
- 中学 ちゅうがく middle school, junior high school
- 背中 せなか back (of body)
- 集中 しゅうちゅう concentration, focusing the mind
- 中止 ちゅうし suspension, stoppage, discontinuance
- 中身 なかみ content(s), substance
- 中央 ちゅうおう central, center, middle
- 世界中 せかいじゅう all over the world
Want 中 to still be there next month?
Reading it once is not remembering it. The app brings each kanji back right before you would have forgotten it.
