飲 — how to write the kanji for “drink”
飲 means “drink”, “smoke” and “take”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in third grade in Japan. KANJIDIC2 gives it 2 on readings and 2 kun readings, so the word decides how you say it. Its parts sit side by side: 飠 (“food”), strokes 1–8; 欠 (“lack”), strokes 9–12, each finished before the next. Read in, it forms 飲食 (“food and drink”), 飲料 (“beverage”) and 飲酒 (“drinking alcohol”); the native reading no-mu gives 飲み物 (“drink”) and 飲み水 (“drinking water”). Mainland Chinese writes it 饮 (yǐn, “to drink”), an HSK 3 character.
- Strokes
- 12
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 食 (“eat”)
- On
- イン, オン
- Kun
- -の·み, の·む
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top leftdown and left
- Dot ㇔top leftdown and right
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical-rising ㇙leftdownwards → up and right
- Dot ㇔bottom leftdown and right
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards
- Horizontal hook ㇖toprightwards → downwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒centerdownwards → down 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 (12 strokes in Japanese, 12 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- イン in, オン on (rare)
- Kun (native)
- -の·み -no-mi, の·む no-mu (rare)
- Meanings
- drink; smoke; take
- Read in
- 飲食 飲料 飲酒 飲料水 飲食店
- Read no-mu
- 飲み物 飲み水 飲む 湯飲み 飲み会
- School year
- third grade
- Newspaper rank
- 969th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 음 eum
- Common words
- 12 in JMdict
Words with 飲
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 飲食 | いんしょく inshoku | food and drink; eating and drinking |
| 飲料 | いんりょう inryou | beverage; drink |
| 飲酒 | いんしゅ inshu | drinking alcohol |
| 飲み物 | のみもの nomimono | drink; beverage |
| 飲み水 | のみみず nomimizu | drinking water; potable water |
| 飲む | のむ nomu | to drink; to swallow |
| 湯飲み | ゆのみ yunomi | teacup |
| 飲み会 | のみかい nomikai | drinking party; get-together |
| 飲料水 | いんりょうすい inryousui | drinking water |
| 飲食店 | いんしょくてん inshokuten | restaurant |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: