教 — how to write the kanji for “teach”
教 means “teach”, “faith” and “doctrine”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in second grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 166th most used kanji. Its parts sit side by side: 孝 (“filial piety”), strokes 1–7; 攵 (“strike”), strokes 8–11, each finished before the next. Its common words take the reading kyou: 教授 (“professor”), 教育 (“education”), 宗教 (“religion”) and 教師 (“teacher”). Chinese reads it jiào, “to teach”, at HSK 2.
- Strokes
- 11
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 攴 (“strike”)
- On
- キョウ
- Kun
- おし·える, おそ·わる
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Horizontal hook ㇖leftrightwards → down and left
- Curved hook ㇁leftdownwards → down and left → up and left
- Rising stroke ㇀bottom leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top rightdown and left
- Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒rightdown and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (11 strokes in Japanese, 11 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- キョウ kyou
- Kun (native)
- おし·える oshi-eru, おそ·わる oso-waru
- Meanings
- teach; faith; doctrine
- Read kyou
- 教授 教育 宗教 教師 教室 教徒
- School year
- second grade
- Newspaper rank
- 166th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 교 gyo
- Common words
- 51 in JMdict
Words with 教
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 教授 | きょうじゅ kyouju | professor; teaching |
| 教育 | きょういく kyouiku | education; schooling |
| 宗教 | しゅうきょう shuukyou | religion; religious affiliation |
| 教師 | きょうし kyoushi | teacher; instructor |
| 教室 | きょうしつ kyoushitsu | classroom; lecture room |
| 教徒 | きょうと kyouto | believer; adherent |
| 教諭 | きょうゆ kyouyu | (licensed) teacher |
| 助教授 | じょきょうじゅ jokyouju | assistant professor; associate professor |
| 教科書 | きょうかしょ kyoukasho | textbook; coursebook |
| 仏教 | ぶっきょう bukkyou | Buddhism |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
JLPT N4, in list order: