土 — how to write the kanji for “soil”
土 means “soil”, “earth” and “ground”; it is a JLPT N5 kanji, taught in first grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 307th most used kanji. As one of the 214 traditional radicals it heads 293 kanji in KANJIDIC2. On its own it is the word tsuchi, “earth; soil”. Its common words take the reading do: 領土 (“territory”), 土曜 (“Saturday”), 国土 (“country”) and 土俵 (“(wrestling) ring”). Chinese reads it tǔ, “earth”, at HSK 4.
- Strokes
- 3
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 土 (“soil”)
- On
- ト, ド
- Kun
- つち
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- 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 土
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ト to, ド do (rare)
- Kun (native)
- つち tsuchi (rare)
- Meanings
- soil; earth; ground; Turkey
- Read do
- 領土 土曜 国土 土俵 土木 全土
- Read to
- 土地
- School year
- first grade
- Newspaper rank
- 307th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 토 to
- Common words
- 35 in JMdict
Words with 土
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 土地 | とち tochi | plot of land; lot |
| 領土 | りょうど ryoudo | territory; domain |
| 土曜 | どよう doyou | Saturday |
| 国土 | こくど kokudo | country; territory |
| 土俵 | どひょう dohyou | (wrestling) ring; forum |
| 土木 | どぼく doboku | engineering works; civil engineering |
| 全土 | ぜんど zendo | whole nation; whole land |
| 土壌 | どじょう dojou | soil; breeding ground (for) |
| 風土 | ふうど fuudo | natural features; topography |
| 国土庁 | こくどちょう kokudochou | (Japanese) National Land Agency |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
JLPT N5, in list order: