Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 2
分 minute, part
- Meaning
- minute, part
- On reading
- フン・ブン
- Kun reading
- わ(ける)
Memory hook
八 (split) over 刀 (knife): a knife cutting something into parts. A minute is a part of an hour. フン or ブン, and わ(ける) when it means to divide. The フン shifts to プン after some numbers.
Words that use 分
五分
ごふん
5 minutes
半分
はんぶん
half
How to write 分
Stroke order · 4 strokes
1
2
3
4
- 1. The sweep down to the left.
- 2. The diagonal down to the right.
- 3. Horizontal across the middle, then turn down, ending in a hook.
- 4. The sweep down to the left.
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).
分 is taught on day 7 of the kanji course, alongside 年 時 半, with two writing passes and a short quiz.