The kanji 何 means “what.” It’s one of the most commonly used question words in Japanese.
You’ll hear 何 in questions like 何をしますか？ (“What will you do?”) or 何ですか？ (“What is it?”)
It also appears inside words like 何時 (“what time”) and 何人 (“how many people?”).
You might have noticed that 何 can be read as なに or なん. These are called Kun-yomi — native Japanese readings.
There's also an On-yomi reading — か — which comes from old Chinese. It's less common for this kanji, but it appears in compound words.
Most kanji have both types of readings. In the next few pages, we’ll explore how kanji like 何 are built, and how their parts and readings work together.
