物 — how to write the kanji for “thing”
物 means “thing”, “object” and “matter”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in third grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 215th most used kanji. It starts with the left-falling sweep, before the horizontal that crosses it. On its own it is the word mono, “thing; object”. Read butsu, it forms 人物 (“person”), 動物 (“animal”) and 物価 (“prices of commodities”); the native reading mono gives 建物 (“building”) and 物語 (“story”). Chinese reads it wù, “thing”, at HSK 3.
- Strokes
- 8
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 牛 (“cow”)
- On
- ブツ, モツ
- Kun
- もの-, もの
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Its parts sit side by side: 牛 (“cow”, its radical), strokes 1–4; 勿 (“not”), strokes 5–8, each finished before the next.
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top leftdown and left
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Rising stroke ㇀bottom leftup and right
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Horizontal-turn-hook ㇆toprightwards → downwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒centerdown and left
- Left-falling stroke ㇒rightdown and left
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 8 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
The trap in 物
Stroke 1 is the left-falling stroke and stroke 2 the horizontal, the same as in 右; 左 does the opposite.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ブツ butsu, モツ motsu
- Kun (native)
- もの- mono-, もの mono (rare)
- Meanings
- thing; object; matter
- Read butsu
- 人物 動物 物価 物質 植物 物資
- Read mono
- 建物 物語
- School year
- third grade
- Newspaper rank
- 215th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 물 mul
- Common words
- 145 in JMdict
Words with 物
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 人物 | じんぶつ jinbutsu | person; character |
| 動物 | どうぶつ doubutsu | animal |
| 建物 | たてもの tatemono | building |
| 物価 | ぶっか bukka | prices of commodities; prices |
| 物語 | ものがたり monogatari | story; tale |
| 物質 | ぶっしつ busshitsu | material; substance |
| 植物 | しょくぶつ shokubutsu | plant; vegetation |
| 物資 | ぶっし busshi | goods; materials |
| 生物 | せいぶつ seibutsu | living thing; organism |
| 博物館 | はくぶつかん hakubutsukan | museum |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: