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高 — how to write the kanji for “tall”

高 means “tall”, “high” and “expensive”; it is a JLPT N5 kanji, taught in second grade in Japan. In newspapers it is one of the hundred most used kanji (65th). KANJIDIC2 gives it 1 on reading and 5 kun readings, so the word decides how you say it. Its parts: 亠 (“lid”), strokes 1–2; 口 (“mouth”), strokes 3–5; 冋 (“desert”), strokes 6–10, each finished before the next. On its own it is the word taka, “quantity; amount”. Read kou, it forms 最高 (“best”), 高校 (“senior high school”) and 高官 (“high official”); the native reading taka-i gives 円高 (“appreciation of the yen”) and 高さ (“height”). Chinese reads it gāo, “high”, at HSK 1.

Strokes
10
JLPT
N5
Radical
高 (“tall”)
On
コウ
Kun
たか·まる, たか·い, たか

Stroke by stroke

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  1. Vertical ㇑topdownwards
  2. Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
  3. Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
  4. Horizontal-turn ㇕top leftrightwards → downwards
  5. Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
  6. Vertical ㇑leftdownwards
  7. Horizontal-turn-hook ㇆leftrightwards → downwards
  8. Vertical ㇑bottomdownwards
  9. Horizontal-turn ㇕bottomrightwards → downwards
  10. Horizontal ㇐bottomrightwards

Japanese and Chinese

Japanese and Chinese draw all 10 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.

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Japanese · KanjiVG · 10 strokes
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Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 10 strokes

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Readings

On (Chinese-derived)
コウ kou
Kun (native)
たか·まる taka-maru, たか·い taka-i (rare), たか taka (rare), -だか -daka (rare), たか·める taka-meru (rare)
Meanings
tall; high; expensive
Read kou
最高 高校 高官 高齢 最高裁 高校生
Read taka-i
円高 高さ
School year
second grade
Newspaper rank
65th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
Korean hanja
고 go
Common words
81 in JMdict

On and kun, explained

Words with 高

WordReadingMeaning
最高さいこう saikoubest; supreme
高校こうこう koukousenior high school; high school
円高えんだか endakaappreciation of the yen; strong yen
高官こうかん koukanhigh official
高齢こうれい koureiadvanced age; old age
最高裁さいこうさい saikousaiSupreme Court
高校生こうこうせい koukouseisenior high school student
高齢者こうれいしゃ koureishaold person; elderly person
高さたかさ takasaheight; altitude
高級こうきゅう koukyuuhigh-class; high-grade

Most common first (JMdict).

Practice sheet

Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.

Keep going

Same parts:

JLPT N5, in list order: