Onyomi: ヒ · Kunyomi: か.の, かの, かれ · Meanings: he, that, the
Kanji for he, that, the
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The kanji 彼 is made from the person radical 亻 on the left and 皮 on the right, which originally represented “skin” or “hide.” Long ago, 皮 was used to suggest the physical form of a person. Combined with 亻, the character depicted “that person” — someone distinct from the speaker or listener. This image helped convey the idea of someone else, a third party, or “he/him.” Over time, 彼 came to represent pronouns referring to another person, especially “he” or “that person” in general.
彼 combines the person radical (亻) with 皮 (body/skin) to represent “that person” — someone else, or he/him.
Picture a person (亻) with their body (皮) standing apart from you — that someone is 彼, “he” or “that person.”
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 彼 | かれ | he, him | common JLPT-N4 Pronoun |
| 彼 | あれ | that, that thing | common JLPT-N5 Pronoun |
| 彼の | かの | that well-known ..., the one and only ... | Pre-noun adjectival (rentaishi) |
| 彼処 | あそこ | there, over there, that place, yonder, you-know-where | common JLPT-N1 JLPT-N5 Pronoun |
| 彼女 | かのじょ | she, her | common JLPT-N4 Pronoun |
| 彼ら | かれら | they, them | common JLPT-N3 Pronoun |
| 彼の | あの | that, those, the | common JLPT-N1 Pre-noun adjectival (rentaishi) |
| 彼方 | あちら | that way, that direction, over there, yonder | common JLPT-N1 JLPT-N5 Pronoun |
| 彼岸 | ひがん | equinoctial week (when Buddhist services are held) | common Noun |
| 彼方 | かなた | beyond, across, the other side, the distance | common Pronoun |