急 — how to write the kanji for “hurry”
急 means “hurry”, “emergency” and “sudden”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in third grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 309th most used kanji. KANJIDIC2 gives it 1 on reading and 3 kun readings, so the word decides how you say it. Its parts: 𠂊, strokes 1–2; ⺕, strokes 3–5; 心 (“heart”, its radical), strokes 6–9, each finished before the next. On its own it is the word kyuu, “sudden; abrupt”. Read kyuu, it forms 緊急 (“urgency”), 急速 (“rapid”) and 早急 (“immediate”); the native reading iso-gu gives 急いで (“hurriedly”). Chinese reads it jí, “urgent”, at HSK 3.
- Strokes
- 9
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 心 (“heart”)
- On
- キュウ
- Kun
- いそ·ぎ, せ·く, いそ·ぐ
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Horizontal then left-falling ㇇toprightwards → down and left
- Horizontal-turn ㇕top leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Dot ㇔bottom leftdownwards
- Flat slanted hook ㇃bottom leftdown and right → rightwards
- Dot ㇔bottomdown and right → up and right
- Dot ㇔rightdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (9 strokes in Japanese, 9 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- キュウ kyuu
- Kun (native)
- いそ·ぎ iso-gi, せ·く se-ku, いそ·ぐ iso-gu (rare)
- Meanings
- hurry; emergency; sudden; steep
- Read kyuu
- 緊急 急速 早急 急激 急増 急進
- Read iso-gu
- 急いで
- School year
- third grade
- Newspaper rank
- 309th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 급 geup
- Common words
- 42 in JMdict
Words with 急
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 緊急 | きんきゅう kinkyuu | urgency; emergency |
| 急速 | きゅうそく kyuusoku | rapid |
| 早急 | そうきゅう soukyuu | immediate; prompt |
| 急性 | きゅうせい kyuusei | acute (illness) |
| 急激 | きゅうげき kyuugeki | sudden; abrupt |
| 急いで | いそいで isoide | hurriedly; in haste |
| 急増 | きゅうぞう kyuuzou | rapid increase; sharp rise |
| 急進 | きゅうしん kyuushin | rapid progress; radical progress |
| 救急 | きゅうきゅう kyuukyuu | first-aid; emergency (aid) |
| 特急 | とっきゅう tokkyuu | limited express… |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: