にんべん
にんべん
noun
person radical (亻); the left-hand "person" radical in kanji
1.
person radical (亻); the left-hand "person" radical in kanji
The kanji radical 亻, a stylized form of 人 (person) that appears on the left side of many kanji. It is one of the most common left-side radicals (偏) and generally signals that the kanji has some connection to people or human activity, as in 休む, 作る, 住む, and 使う.
「休」はにんべんの漢字だ。
"休" is a kanji with the person radical.
にんべんは人に関係する漢字によく使われる。
The person radical is often used in kanji related to people.
この字のにんべんを木偏と間違えないでください。
Please don't confuse the person radical in this character with the tree radical.
にんべんに「木」と書いて「休む」と読む。
Write "tree" next to the person radical and it reads as "yasumu" (to rest).
The name literally means "人-偏" (person-left-side-radical). にんべん is written in hiragana far more often than in kanji, because the word is usually cited when spelling out or describing a character out loud.
USAGE:
Native speakers commonly identify kanji in conversation by naming the radical plus another component: にんべんに木で「休む」("person radical + tree = 休む"). This is a practical way to clarify which kanji you mean — for example, when giving your name over the phone.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- にんべんの漢字: a kanji with the person radical
- にんべんに〜: person radical next to 〜 (used when spelling kanji aloud)
- にんべんが付く: to have the person radical attached
KANJI WITH THIS RADICAL:
Common examples include 休む (rest), 作る (make), 住む (live), 使う (use), 体 (body), 代わる (replace), 何 (what), and many more.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- きへん: tree radical (木), a left-side radical seen in 林, 森, 村, etc.
- 偏: the general term for any left-side radical
- 旁: right-side component of a kanji
- 部首: radical (general term for kanji components used in dictionary lookup)