而

而 · ér

and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126

Mandarin
ér
Cantonese
ji4

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 而 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

ジドウノウニ

Kun’yomi · hiragana

しかしてしかもしかれどもすなわちなんじしこうして

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

ジ ドウ ノウ ニ しかして しかも しかれども すなわち なんじ しこうして

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

이

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
이
KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

이:0E

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+800C
Radical
而 · 126
Strokes
6 · Unihan
Residual
0

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

6 strokes
而
Strokes
6
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

6 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿱一𦓐(GHTJKP)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 而

Character connections

5 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

Sentence context · 2 matches

这只是枝叶而已。

It's only leaves and branches.
Source, contributors & licenses

Mandarin: Tatoeba #395768 · Original contributor: FeuDRenais · Text editors: GlossaMatik · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log · Current owner: GlossaMatik
English: Tatoeba #395766 · Original contributor: FeuDRenais · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log

Source text unchanged. Original contributor and text editors are credited from the source log, separately from the current owner.

Sentence entry · words & provenance ↗
Written-form matches; sense and pronunciation are not automatically aligned. Corpus & selection ↗

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
nyi · 如之 反切 · #194

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 1624 · nyi = 止開三平之日

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
ér
kCantonese
ji4
kDefinition
and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
kTotalStrokes
6
kRSUnicode
126.0
kGradeLevel
3
kTGH
2013:392

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
ér,néng 42810.010
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Explore 2 examples using 而 ↗

Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
281dictionary records using 而10forms using this shape1attributed sound links
⿱ Above / below

Shape description
一 above 𦓐 · the shape used in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea
Source notation ^⿱一𦓐$(GHTJKP)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 281 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿱一𦓐$(GHTJKP)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.