母 — how to write the kanji for “mother”
母 (“mother”) is a JLPT N5 kanji taught in second grade in Japan. Its Japanese stroke 4, a dot, is the 5th stroke in the Chinese order. On its own it is the word haha, “mother”. Read bo, it forms 父母 (“father and mother”), 母体 (“mother's body”) and 母子 (“mother and child”); the native reading haha gives 母親 (“mother”). Chinese reads it mǔ, “mother”, at HSK 4.
- Strokes
- 5
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 毋 (“do not”)
- On
- ボ
- Kun
- はは, も
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Its parts: 毋 (“do not”, its radical), strokes 1–2; 毋 (“do not”, its radical), stroke 5, each finished before the next.
- Vertical-turn ㇗top leftdownwards → rightwards
- Horizontal-turn-hook ㇆top leftrightwards → downwards
- Dot ㇔topdown and right
- Dot ㇔centerdown and right
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
Two stroke orders
Japan and China order its strokes differently: 2 strokes sit in another place. Japanese 4 = Chinese 5; Japanese 5 = Chinese 4.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ボ bo
- Kun (native)
- はは haha, も mo (rare)
- Meanings
- mother
- Read bo
- 父母 母体 母子 母国 祖母 空母
- Read haha
- 母親
- School year
- second grade
- Newspaper rank
- 570th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 모 mo
- Common words
- 27 in JMdict
Words with 母
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 母親 | ははおや hahaoya | mother |
| お母さん | おかあさん okaasan | mother; mom |
| 父母 | ふぼ fubo | father and mother; parents |
| 母体 | ぼたい botai | mother's body; parent body |
| 母子 | ぼし boshi | mother and child |
| 母国 | ぼこく bokoku | one's home country; one's homeland |
| 祖母 | そぼ sobo | grandmother |
| 空母 | くうぼ kuubo | aircraft carrier |
| 母校 | ぼこう bokou | alma mater |
| 保母 | ほぼ hobo | (female) childcare worker; nursery school teacher |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N5, in list order: