冬 — how to write the kanji for “winter”

冬 (“winter”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in second grade in Japan. Its parts sit stacked: 夂 (“go slowly”), strokes 1–3; 冫 (“ice”, its radical), strokes 4–5, each finished before the next. On its own it is the word fuyu, “winter”. Read tou, it forms 冬季 (“winter season”), 暖冬 (“mild winter”) and 越冬 (“passing the winter”); the native reading fuyu gives 冬場 (“wintertime”) and 冬物 (“winter clothing”). Chinese reads it dōng, “winter”, at HSK 3.

Strokes

5

JLPT

N4

Radical

冫 (“ice”)

On

トウ

Kun

ふゆ