洋 — how to write the kanji for “ocean”
洋 means “ocean”, “sea” and “foreign”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in third grade in Japan. Its parts sit side by side: 氵 (“water”), strokes 1–3; 羊 (“sheep”), strokes 4–9, each finished before the next. Its common words take the reading you: 太平洋 (“Pacific Ocean”), 東洋 (“the East”), 海洋 (“ocean”) and 大西洋 (“Atlantic Ocean”). Chinese reads it yáng, “ocean”, at HSK 4.
- Strokes
- 9
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 水 (“water”)
- On
- ヨウ
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- Dot ㇔top leftdown and right
- Dot ㇔top leftdown and right
- Rising stroke ㇀bottom leftup and right
- Dot ㇔topdown and right
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top rightdown and left
- Horizontal ㇐toprightwards
- Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
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)
- ヨウ you
- Kun (native)
- none
- Meanings
- ocean; sea; foreign; Western style
- Read you
- 太平洋 東洋 海洋 大西洋 西洋 太平洋戦争
- School year
- third grade
- Newspaper rank
- 763rd of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 양 yang
- Common words
- 23 in JMdict
Words with 洋
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 太平洋 | たいへいよう taiheiyou | Pacific Ocean |
| 東洋 | とうよう touyou | the East; the Orient |
| 海洋 | かいよう kaiyou | ocean; sea |
| 大西洋 | たいせいよう taiseiyou | Atlantic Ocean |
| 西洋 | せいよう seiyou | the West; the Occident |
| 太平洋戦争 | たいへいようせんそう taiheiyousensou | Pacific War (1941-1945) |
| 大洋 | たいよう taiyou | ocean |
| 洋服 | ようふく youfuku | Western-style clothes (cf. traditional Japanese clothes) |
| 洋画 | ようが youga | Western painting; Western film |
| 洋上 | ようじょう youjou | on the sea; on the ocean |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: