五 — how to write the kanji for “five”
五 is the number 5, a JLPT N5 kanji, taught in first grade in Japan. On its own it is the word go, “five; 5”. Read go, it forms 五十 (“fifty”), 五月 (“May”) and 五輪 (“Olympic Games”); the native reading itsu gives 五つ (“five”). Chinese reads it wǔ, “five”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 4
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 二 (“two”)
- On
- ゴ
- Kun
- いつ·つ, いつ
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Its parts: 一 (“one”), stroke 1; 二 (“two”, its radical), stroke 4, each finished before the next.
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
五 in dates and counts
- 五十 ごじゅう — fifty; 50
- 五月 ごがつ — May; fifth month of the lunar calendar
- 五輪 ごりん — Olympic Games; Olympics
- 十五 じゅうご — fifteen; 15
- 五分 ごぶ — half; 50%
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ゴ go
- Kun (native)
- いつ·つ itsu-tsu, いつ itsu (rare)
- Meanings
- five
- Read go
- 五十 五月 五輪 十五 五分 五十三次
- Read itsu
- 五つ
- School year
- first grade
- Newspaper rank
- 31st of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 오 o
- Common words
- 15 in JMdict
Words with 五
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 五十 | ごじゅう gojuu | fifty; 50 |
| 五月 | ごがつ gogatsu | May; fifth month of the lunar calendar |
| 五輪 | ごりん gorin | Olympic Games; Olympics |
| 十五 | じゅうご juugo | fifteen; 15 |
| 五分 | ごぶ gobu | half; 50% |
| 五十三次 | ごじゅうさんつぎ gojuusantsugi | fifty-three stations on the Tōkaidō… |
| 五つ | いつつ itsutsu | five; five years of age |
| 五感 | ごかん gokan | the five senses |
| 五十音 | ごじゅうおん gojuuon | the Japanese syllabary |
| 五体 | ごたい gotai | the whole body; the five styles of writing Chinese characters |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N5, in list order: