Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 4
弟 younger brother
- Meaning
- younger brother
- On reading
- テイ
- Kun reading
- おとうと
Memory hook
Horns over a bow wrapped with cord: the little one, still tangled up in string. テイ in compounds, おとうと on its own.
Words that use 弟
弟
おとうと
younger brother
兄弟
きょうだい
siblings
How to write 弟
Stroke order · 7 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
- 1. A short dot.
- 2. The sweep down to the left.
- 3. Horizontal, then turn down.
- 4. Horizontal.
- 5. Horizontal, then turn down, ending in a hook.
- 6. Vertical.
- 7. 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).
弟 is taught on day 19 of the kanji course, alongside 父 母 兄, with two writing passes and a short quiz.