in front, before
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.
着くと、ルーカスはお弁当の棚の前で、どれにするか迷っていました。
Tsuku to, Rūkasu wa obentou no tana no mae de, dore ni suru ka mayotte imashita.
When he arrived, Lucas stood in front of the bento shelf, not knowing which to choose.
こんなに走り回った後だから、今日は二人前食べていいよね。
Konna ni hashirimawatta ato dakara, kyou wa nininmae tabete ii yo ne.
After all that running around, I deserve a double portion today.
分かりました。あちらにお座りください、お名前をお呼びします。
Wakarimashita. Achira ni osuwari kudasai, onamae o oyobi shimasu.
Got it. You can have a seat over there, I'll call your name.
そして、始まる直前、聞き覚えのある声が彼女を呼びました。
Soshite, hajimaru chokuzen, kikioboe no aru koe ga kanojo wo yobimashita.
And right as it was about to start, a familiar voice called out to her.
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