# 減 — decrease; reduce

減 means “decrease; reduce”. It is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 12 strokes. On'yomi: ゲン (gen). Kun'yomi: へ(る) (heru). You'll see it in words such as 減る (heru, “to decrease; to diminish”).

- Meaning: decrease; reduce
- On'yomi: ゲン (gen)
- Kun'yomi: へ(る) (heru)
- Strokes: 12
- Level: JLPT N3 · set Numbers & amounts 2

## How to remember 減

Water (氵) turns salty (咸) as it dries away: decrease.

Parts: 氵 water · 咸 salty

## Words with 減

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 減る | へる (heru) | to decrease; to diminish |
| 減らす | へらす (herasu) | to abate; to decrease |
| 減り | へり (heri) | decrease; reduction |

## More in the “Numbers & amounts 2” set

[両](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/both/) · [減](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/decrease/) · [割](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/split/) · [番](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/turn-in-a-series/) · [算](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/calculate/) · [残](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/remain/) · [率](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/rate/) · [限](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/limit/) · [個](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/individual/)

---

From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/decrease/. Last updated 2026-11-01.