N31045/1669

だん

nounnoun (generic)counterformal or literary term

Reading

Meanings

  • step, stair, rung, (flight of) steps
  • shelf, layer, tier
  • grade, level, class
  • dan (degree of advanced proficiency in martial arts, go, shogi, etc.), rank
  • paragraph, passage
  • column (of print)
  • act (in kabuki, joruri, etc.), section, scene
  • row of the multiplication table (e.g. five times table)
  • stage (in a process), phase, occasion, time, moment, situation
  • matter, occasion
  • degree, extent
  • counter for breaks in written language or speech

Learn in context

Example sentences

この階段かいだん全部ぜんぶじゅうだんあります。

This staircase has ten steps in total.

かれ剣道けんどうさんだん腕前うでまえっている。

He holds a third-dan rank in kendo.

その本棚ほんだなだんかれていて、たくさんのほんならんでいる。

That bookshelf is divided into five tiers, with many books lined up on it.

文章ぶんしょうだんごとに整理せいりすると、内容ないようかりやすくなる。

Organizing a text by paragraph makes the content easier to understand.

プロジェクトはつぎだんすすまえに、現在げんざい成果せいか慎重しんちょう評価ひょうかしなければならない。

Before moving on to the next phase of the project, we must carefully evaluate the current results.