Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 8
古 old
- Meaning
- old
- On reading
- コ
- Kun reading
- ふる(い)
Memory hook
十 (ten) over 口 (mouth): a story that has passed through ten mouths is an old one. コ in compounds, ふる(い) on its own.
Words that use 古
古い
ふるい
old (things)
中古
ちゅうこ
second-hand
How to write 古
Stroke order · 5 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
- 1. The horizontal across the middle.
- 2. The vertical through the centre.
- 3. The vertical on the left.
- 4. Horizontal across the middle, then turn down on the right side.
- 5. The horizontal across the bottom.
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).
古 is taught on day 13 of the kanji course, alongside 新 長 白, with two writing passes and a short quiz.