口 — how to write the kanji for “mouth”
口 (“mouth”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in first grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 284th most used kanji. As one of the 214 traditional radicals it heads 465 kanji in KANJIDIC2. On its own it is the word kuchi, “mouth; opening”. Its common words take the reading kou: 人口 (“population”), 口座 (“account”) and 河口 (“mouth of river”). Chinese reads it kǒu, “mouth”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 3
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 口 (“mouth”)
- On
- コウ, ク
- Kun
- くち
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕top leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 3 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Under the radical 口
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- コウ kou, ク ku
- Kun (native)
- くち kuchi
- Meanings
- mouth
- Read kou
- 人口 口座 河口
- School year
- first grade
- Newspaper rank
- 284th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 구 gu
- Common words
- 65 in JMdict
Words with 口
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 人口 | じんこう jinkou | population; common talk |
| 窓口 | まどぐち madoguchi | counter; window |
| 口座 | こうざ kouza | account |
| 入り口 | いりぐち iriguchi | entrance; entry |
| 大口 | おおぐち ooguchi | big mouth; mouth opened wide |
| 出口 | でぐち deguchi | exit; way out |
| 口調 | くちょう kuchou | tone; manner of talking |
| 手口 | てぐち teguchi | modus operandi; criminal technique |
| 小口 | こぐち koguchi | cut end; edge |
| 河口 | かこう kakou | mouth of river; estuary |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
JLPT N4, in list order: