牛 — how to write the kanji for “cow”
牛 (“cow”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in second grade in Japan. As one of the 214 traditional radicals it heads 45 kanji in KANJIDIC2. On its own it is the word ushi, “cattle (Bos taurus); cow”. Read gyuu, it forms 牛乳 (“(cow's) milk”), 牛肉 (“beef”) and 牛歩 (“snail's pace”); the native reading ushi gives 子牛 (“calf”). Chinese reads it niú, “cow”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 4
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 牛 (“cow”)
- On
- ギュウ
- Kun
- うし
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top leftdown and left
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Under the radical 牛
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ギュウ gyuu
- Kun (native)
- うし ushi
- Meanings
- cow
- Read gyuu
- 牛乳 牛肉 牛歩 和牛 水牛 牛丼
- Read ushi
- 子牛
- School year
- second grade
- Newspaper rank
- 1202nd of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 우 u
- Common words
- 8 in JMdict
Words with 牛
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 牛乳 | ぎゅうにゅう gyuunyuu | (cow's) milk |
| 牛肉 | ぎゅうにく gyuuniku | beef |
| 牛歩 | ぎゅうほ gyuuho | snail's pace; slow progress |
| 和牛 | わぎゅう wagyuu | Wagyu (any of four breeds of Japanese cattle); Wagyu beef |
| 子牛 | こうし koushi | calf; small cow |
| 牛舎 | ぎゅうしゃ gyuusha | cow shed; cattle barn |
| 水牛 | すいぎゅう suigyuu | water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis); domestic Asian water buffalo |
| 牛丼 | ぎゅうどん gyuudon | gyudon; rice covered with sliced beef, usu. with fried onion |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
JLPT N4, in list order: