three
Came from Chinese. It usually shows up when the kanji is joined to another, forming a compound word.
It is Japanese. It usually shows up when the kanji stands alone or is followed by hiragana.
The order matters: it is what makes handwriting come out legible, and it is how dictionaries index the character.
Visual decomposition, for recognising and comparing — not always the character's origin.
Where it appears is highlighted — the translation doesn't always make that visible.
みんな注目！終電は二十三時四十分発だ。
Minna chuumoku! Shuuden wa nijuusan-ji yonjuppun hatsu da.
Attention, everyone! The last train leaves at twenty-three forty.
三百グラムくらいでお願いできますか?
Sanbyaku guramu kurai de onegai dekimasu ka?
About three hundred grams, if that's alright.
いいですね、今日は鶏肉のお弁当がセール中で、三百八十円なんです。
Ii desu ne, kyou wa toriniku no obentou ga seeruchuu de, sanbyaku hachijuu-en nan desu.
Great, today the chicken bentos are on sale, they're three hundred and eighty yen.
あとは三時と十五時を間違えなければね。
Ato wa san-ji to juugo-ji o machigaenakereba ne.
Just don't mix up three and fifteen again.
なんで「十五時」って言うの？「午後三時」じゃなくて？
Nande "juugo-ji" tte iu no? "Gogo san-ji" ja nakute?
Why do you say "fifteen hundred" instead of "three PM"?
挑戦するのは、これで三回目でした。
Chousen suru no wa, kore de sankaime deshita.
It was the third time she'd tried, with no luck.
それから、りんごを三つ、赤くてきれいなの。
Sorekara, ringo o mittsu, akakute kirei na no.
And three apples, nice and red.
お墓の前で、三人はお菓子を分け合いながら、お年寄りへの感謝と、亡くなった人への思いを共にしました。
Ohaka no mae de, sannin wa okashi wo wakeai nagara, otoshiyori e no kansha to, nakunatta hito e no omoi wo tomo ni shimashita.
Right there, in front of the grave, the three of them ate the sweet together, honoring both the respect owed to elders and the memory of someone gone.
Readings and meanings: KANJIDIC2 · Decomposition: KRADFILE · Both from Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, CC BY-SA 4.0 · data from 2026-10-22 · Strokes: KanjiVG, Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0