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N4

Kanji 私: meanings, readings, and example words.

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Kanji 私: private, I, me

Key takeaways

Kanji 私: private, I, me. Readings and core meaning.

See vocabulary and examples below.

Kanji at a glance

N4

Meaning

privateIme

On reading

Kun reading

わたくしわたし

Radical

Core meaning / core image

Core meaning: 私

private, I, me

Kanji structure breakdown

Structure breakdown

禾 + 厶

Mnemonic story

Mnemonic story

The character combines grain (禾) and private (厶), representing the act of keeping harvested grain for oneself. Since grain was the most important personal property in the past, it came to mean 'private' and eventually 'I' or 'me'.

On'yomi and kun'yomi

On reading

  • あたし

    I (female, informal)

  • 私物しぶつ

    personal belongings / private property

  • 私有しゆう

    private ownership

  • 私用しよう

    personal use / private matters

  • 私鉄してつ

    private railway / non-government train line

  • 私立しりつ

    private (institution/school)

  • わたくし

    I (humble form)

  • わたし

    I / me / myself

Kun reading

わたくし
  • わたくし

    I (humble form)

  • わたし

    I / me / myself

Commonly used words

  • あたし

    I (female, informal)

  • 私物
    しぶつ

    personal belongings / private property

  • 私有
    しゆう

    private ownership

  • 私用
    しよう

    personal use / private matters

  • 私鉄
    してつ

    private railway / non-government train line

  • 私立
    しりつ

    private (institution/school)

  • わたくし

    I (humble form)

  • わたし

    I / me / myself

Example sentences

Example 1

あたしは学生です。

Translation

I am a student.

Example 2

あたしの名前はさくらです。

Translation

My name is Sakura.

Example 3

これは物だから勝手に使わないでください。

Translation

This is my personal belonging, so please don’t use it without permission.

Example 4

物をなくしてしまって困っています。

Translation

I lost my personal belongings and I’m in trouble.

Kanji 私: private, I, me | Daily Nihongo