Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 3
今 now
- Meaning
- now
- On reading
- コン
- Kun reading
- いま
Memory hook
A lid pulled over a small hook: a roof over this exact moment. コン in compounds, いま on its own.
Words that use 今
今
いま
now
今日
きょう
today
How to write 今
Stroke order · 4 strokes
1
2
3
4
- 1. The sweep down to the left.
- 2. The diagonal down to the right.
- 3. The horizontal across the middle.
- 4. Horizontal across the middle, then turn down.
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).
今 is taught on day 8 of the kanji course, alongside 毎 週, with two writing passes and a short quiz.