不
不 — Negative
negative, non-, bad, ugly, clumsy
On’yomiフ (fu)
On’yomiブ (bu)
Kun’yomi—
Stroke order (4 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 不
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不況 | ふきょう fukyou | (economic) depression; recession; slump |
| 不安 | ふあん fuan | anxiety; uneasiness; worry |
| 不足 | ふそく fusoku | insufficiency; deficiency; shortage |
| 不動産 | ふどうさん fudousan | real estate |
| 不満 | ふまん fuman | dissatisfaction; discontent; displeasure |
| 不明 | ふめい fumei | unclear; obscure; indistinct |
Study notes
不 is a JLPT N4 kanji written with 4 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #101 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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