左 – JLPT N5 Kanji, Kanji for left (With 3D Visualization)
Kanji for left
Fast lookup with examples and clean stroke-order visualization.
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左
- Meanings
- left
- Onyomi
- サ
- Kunyomi
- ひだり
- Name Readings
- そ
- JLPT
- N5
- Grade
- 1
- Frequency
- -
- Kanji Writing Practice
- Practice
Stroke Order
Story
The kanji 左 is made of two parts: the radical for “hand” (⺘, from 手) on the left and the part 工 meaning “craft” or “work” on the right. Long ago, this showed a hand working — and since most people were right-handed, the hand doing the helping or supporting work was drawn on the left. Over time, this came to mean the direction “left,” the side that assists or supports.
Short Story
A hand (⺘) helping with work (工) — 左 shows the left side, the helping hand beside the main one.
Mnemonic
Imagine your left hand holding something steady while your right hand works with it — your left hand is the helper. That’s 左, the kanji for “left,” the supporting side.
Vocabulary Examples
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 左 | ひだり | left, left-hand side | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |
| 左 | さ | left (esp. in vertical Japanese writing), the following | Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |
| 左右 | さゆう | left and right, right and left | common JLPT-N3 Noun |
| 兎角 | とかく | (doing) various things, (doing) this and that | common JLPT-N1 Adverb (fukushi), Suru verb |
| 左利き | ひだりきき | left-handedness, left-handed person, left-hander | common JLPT-N1 Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |
| 左様なら | さようなら | farewell, adieu, goodbye, so long | common JLPT-N2 JLPT-N1 |
| 左手 | ひだりて | left hand | common Noun |
| 左側 | ひだりがわ | left side, left-hand side | common Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |
| 左腕 | さわん | left arm | common Noun |
| 然程 | さほど | (not) so, (not) particularly, (not) very, (not) that much | JLPT-N1 Adverb (fukushi) |