女 — how to write the kanji for “woman”
女 (“woman” and “female”) is a JLPT N5 kanji taught in first grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 151st most used kanji. It is also where hiragana め and katakana メ came from. On its own it is the word onna, “woman; female”. Read jo, it forms 女子 (“woman”), 女性 (“woman”) and 彼女 (“she”); the native reading onna gives 女の子 (“girl”). Chinese reads it nǚ, “female”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 3
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 女 (“woman”)
- On
- ジョ, ニョ, ニョウ
- Kun
- おんな, め
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Left-falling then dot ㇛topdownwards → down and right
- Left-falling stroke ㇒centerdown and left
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 3 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Kana from 女
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ジョ jo, ニョ nyo, ニョウ nyou
- Kun (native)
- おんな onna, め me
- Meanings
- woman; female
- Read jo
- 女子 女性 彼女 男女 女優 少女
- Read onna
- 女の子
- School year
- first grade
- Newspaper rank
- 151st of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 녀 nyeo
- Common words
- 41 in JMdict
Words with 女
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 女子 | じょし joshi | woman; girl |
| 女性 | じょせい josei | woman; female |
| 彼女 | かのじょ kanojo | she; her |
| 男女 | だんじょ danjo | men and women; man and woman |
| 女優 | じょゆう joyuu | actress; female actor |
| 少女 | しょうじょ shoujo | girl; young lady |
| 長女 | ちょうじょ choujo | eldest daughter; first-born daughter |
| 女子大 | じょしだい joshidai | women's college; women's university |
| 女王 | じょおう joou | queen; female monarch |
| 女の子 | おんなのこ onnanoko | girl; daughter |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
JLPT N5, in list order: