音読み: セン
訓読み: たたかう・いくさ
画数: 13
部首: ほこづくり（戈）
Meaning
War / Battle / Fight / Struggle
- Basic forms
- 戦う — to fight; to battle; to struggle / base form
- 戦います — fights; battles / masu form
- 戦った — fought; battled / ta-form
- 戦って — fight and … / te-form
- 戦わない — do not fight / negative
- 戦えば — if (someone) fights / conditional
- 戦え — fight! / imperative
- Common expressions
- 敵と戦う — fight an enemy
- 病気と戦う — fight an illness
- 最後まで戦った — fought until the end
- More
- 戦おう — let’s fight / 〜よう form
- 戦わなかった — did not fight / ta-form
- 戦っている — is fighting; is battling / progressive
戦う（たたかう） is a godan verb. It’s used for physical battles, competitions, and figurative struggles such as illness, pressure, or inner conflict.
- 戦争 — war
- 決戦 — decisive battle
- 挑戦 — challenge
- 戦士 — warrior
- 戦場 — battlefield
- 戦略 — strategy
- 戦績 — battle record
戦 is one of the most recognizable kanji for combat or conflict. It appears in compounds related to real wars and also symbolic struggles like rivalry, strategy, or determination.
In modern contexts, it is widely used metaphorically — in sports, business, and personal challenges.