五
五 — Five
five
On’yomiゴ (go)
Kun’yomiいつ (itsu)
Kun’yomiいつつ (itsutsu)
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 五
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 五 | ご go | five; 5 |
| 五月 | ごがつ gogatsu | May; fifth month of the lunar calendar |
| 十五 | じゅうご juugo | fifteen; 15 |
| 五輪 | ごりん gorin | Olympic Games; Olympics; Olympic rings |
| 五十 | ごじゅう gojuu | fifty; 50 |
| 五分 | ごぶ gobu | half; 50%; 5 parts |
Study notes
五 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 4 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 1), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #31 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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