Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 4
子 child
- Meaning
- child
- On reading
- シ
- Kun reading
- こ
Memory hook
A head, two arms and a swaddled body: a baby with its legs wrapped up. シ in compounds, こ on its own.
Words that use 子
子ども
こども
child
女子
じょし
female
How to write 子
Stroke order · 3 strokes
1
2
3
- 1. Horizontal, then sweep down to the left.
- 2. The vertical through the centre, ending in a hook.
- 3. The horizontal across the middle.
Stroke data from KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
General rules
- Top to bottom, left to right.
- Horizontal strokes before crossing vertical ones (十 = horizontal, then vertical).
- Outside before inside - but close a box last (口).
- A vertical that passes all the way through comes last (中).
- Left-falling diagonal before right-falling (大).
子 is taught on day 18 of the kanji course, alongside 人 男 女, with two writing passes and a short quiz.