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夏 — how to write the kanji for “summer”

夏 (“summer”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in second grade in Japan. It starts with the horizontal; the sweep that crosses it comes second. KANJIDIC2 files it under the radical 夊 (“winter variant radical”). On its own it is the word natsu, “summer”. Its native reading natsu leads in its common words, as in 夏休み (“summer vacation”) and 夏場 (“summertime”); read ka it forms 今夏 (“this summer”). Chinese reads it xià, “summer”, at HSK 3.

Strokes
10
JLPT
N4
Radical
夊 (“winter variant radical”)
On
カ, ゲ, ガ
Kun
なつ

Stroke by stroke

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10

Its parts: 一 (“one”), stroke 1; 自 (“oneself”), strokes 2–7; 夂 (“go slowly”), strokes 8–10, each finished before the next.

  1. Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
  2. Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
  3. Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
  4. Horizontal-turn ㇕top leftrightwards → downwards
  5. Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
  6. Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
  7. Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
  8. Left-falling stroke ㇒centerdown and left
  9. Horizontal then left-falling ㇇centerrightwards → down and left
  10. Right-falling stroke ㇏bottomdown and right

Japanese and Chinese

The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (10 strokes in Japanese, 10 strokes in Chinese).

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Japanese · KanjiVG · 10 strokes
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Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 10 strokes

The trap in 夏

Stroke 1 is the horizontal and stroke 2 the left-falling stroke, as in 左; 右 flips them.

Kanji stroke order rules

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Readings

On (Chinese-derived)
カ ka, ゲ ge, ガ ga (rare)
Kun (native)
なつ natsu
Meanings
summer
Read natsu
夏休み 夏場 真夏 夏場所 夏物
Read ka
今夏 冷夏 夏季 初夏
School year
second grade
Newspaper rank
659th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
Korean hanja
하 ha
Common words
14 in JMdict

On and kun, explained

Words with 夏

WordReadingMeaning
夏休みなつやすみ natsuyasumisummer vacation; summer holiday
今夏こんか konkathis summer; next summer
冷夏れいか reikacool summer; cold summer
夏場なつば natsubasummertime; summer season
夏季かき kakisummer season; summer
真夏まなつ manatsumiddle of summer; height of summer
夏場所なつばしょ natsubashoSummer Tournament (held in Tokyo in May)
初夏しょか shokaearly summer; fourth month of the lunar calendar
夏時間なつじかん natsujikandaylight saving time; daylight savings time
夏物なつもの natsumonosummer clothing; summer wear

Most common first (JMdict).

Practice sheet

Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.

Keep going

Same parts:

JLPT N4, in list order: