犬 — how to write the kanji for “dog”
犬 (“dog”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in first grade in Japan. As one of the 214 traditional radicals it heads 135 kanji in KANJIDIC2. On its own it is the word inu, “dog (Canis (lupus) familiaris); canine”. Read ken, it forms 盲導犬 (“guide dog”), 愛犬 (“pet dog”) and 野犬 (“stray dog”); the native reading inu gives 飼い犬 (“pet dog”) and 負け犬 (“loser”). Chinese reads it quǎn, “Kangxi radical 94”, at HSK 7-9.
- Strokes
- 4
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 犬 (“dog”)
- On
- ケン
- Kun
- いぬ-, いぬ
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Its parts: 大 (“large”), strokes 1–3; 丶 (“dot”), stroke 4, each finished before the next.
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards → down and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right
- Dot ㇔topdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ケン ken
- Kun (native)
- いぬ- inu-, いぬ inu (rare)
- Meanings
- dog
- Read ken
- 盲導犬 愛犬 野犬 犬猿の仲 猟犬 番犬
- Read inu
- 飼い犬 負け犬 子犬
- School year
- first grade
- Newspaper rank
- 1326th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 견 gyeon
- Common words
- 9 in JMdict
Words with 犬
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 盲導犬 | もうどうけん moudouken | guide dog; seeing-eye dog |
| 愛犬 | あいけん aiken | pet dog; beloved dog |
| 飼い犬 | かいいぬ kaiinu | pet dog |
| 野犬 | やけん yaken | stray dog; ownerless dog |
| 犬猿の仲 | けんえんのなか ken'ennonaka | like cats and dogs; (on) very bad terms |
| 猟犬 | りょうけん ryouken | hound; hunting dog |
| 番犬 | ばんけん banken | watchdog; guard dog |
| 負け犬 | まけいぬ makeinu | loser; failure |
| 子犬 | こいぬ koinu | puppy; small dog |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: