Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 4
母 mother
- Meaning
- mother
- On reading
- ボ
- Kun reading
- はは
Memory hook
A frame with two dots inside. The dots are breasts: the one who feeds you. ボ in compounds. お母さん okāsan for someone else's mother, はは for your own.
Words that use 母
母
はは
my mother
お母さん
おかあさん
mother
How to write 母
Stroke order · 5 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
- 1. Vertical, then turn across to the right.
- 2. Horizontal across the top, then turn down, ending in a hook.
- 3 to 4. The diagonal down to the right.
- 5. 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).
母 is taught on day 19 of the kanji course, alongside 父 兄 弟, with two writing passes and a short quiz.