字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

solicit, invite, ask

On’yomi セイ、シン、ショウ
Kun’yomi こ.う、う.ける
Nanori うけ

Origin

The character 請 combines the radical 言, which means words or speech, with 青 on the right side. The 青 component serves as a sound hint, roughly indicating how the character should be pronounced. Together, these parts create a character meaning to ask or solicit — the idea of speaking to request something from someone. The word "请" in Chinese literally carries this sense of making a verbal request, combining the concept of speech with the phonetic clue to help readers remember both the sound and the meaning.

請 15 strokes

Components

  • 言 radical left
  • 青 sound hint right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 申請 しんせい application; request
  • 請願 せいがん petition
  • 請求 せいきゅう claim; demand
  • 要請 ようせい appeal; call for something
  • 招請 しょうせい invitation
  • 請負 うけおい contract (for work); contracting
  • 請託 せいたく solicitation
  • 強請る ねだる to beg; to pester

Related kanji

Same sound component 青
Same radical

Easily confused with

These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.

Reference

Strokes
15
Kangxi radical
149
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#524 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+08ACB