友 — how to write the kanji for “friend”
友 (“friend”) is a JLPT N5 kanji taught in second grade in Japan. It starts with the horizontal; the sweep that crosses it comes second. On its own it is the word tomo, “friend; companion”. Read yuu, it forms 友人 (“friend”), 友好 (“friendship”) and 友情 (“friendship”); the native reading tomo gives 友達 (“friend”). Chinese reads it yǒu, “friend”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 4
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 又 (“again”)
- On
- ユウ
- Kun
- とも
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Its parts sit one inside another: 𠂇, strokes 1–2; 又 (“again”, its radical), strokes 3–4, each finished before the next.
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Horizontal then left-falling ㇇centerrightwards → down and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
The trap in 友
Stroke 1 is the horizontal and stroke 2 the left-falling stroke, as in 左; 右 flips them.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ユウ yuu
- Kun (native)
- とも tomo
- Meanings
- friend
- Read yuu
- 友人 友好 友情 友愛 血友病 親友
- Read tomo
- 友達
- School year
- second grade
- Newspaper rank
- 622nd of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 우 u
- Common words
- 12 in JMdict
Words with 友
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 友人 | ゆうじん yuujin | friend |
| 友好 | ゆうこう yuukou | friendship |
| 友達 | ともだち tomodachi | friend; companion |
| 友情 | ゆうじょう yuujou | friendship; fellowship |
| 友愛 | ゆうあい yuuai | fraternity; friendship |
| 血友病 | けつゆうびょう ketsuyuubyou | hemophilia; haemophilia |
| 親友 | しんゆう shin'yuu | close friend; bosom friend |
| 交友 | こうゆう kouyuu | friend; companion |
| 戦友 | せんゆう sen'yuu | comrade in arms; war buddy |
| 盟友 | めいゆう meiyuu | sworn friend |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N5, in list order: