Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 6
来 come
- Meaning
- come
- On reading
- ライ
- Kun reading
- く(る)
Memory hook
A tree shape with two strokes across it: wheat ripening, the harvest that comes to you. ライ in compounds, く(る) on its own. Its verb forms are irregular, so pick them up as they appear.
Words that use 来
来る
くる
to come
来年
らいねん
next year
How to write 来
Stroke order · 7 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
- 1. Horizontal.
- 2. A short dot.
- 3. The sweep down to the left.
- 4. Horizontal.
- 5. Vertical.
- 6. The sweep down to the left.
- 7. The diagonal down to the right.
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).
来 is taught on day 24 of the kanji course, alongside 行 見, with two writing passes and a short quiz.