活
活 — Lively
lively, resuscitation, being helped, living
On’yomiカツ (katsu)
Kun’yomiいきる (ikiru)
Kun’yomiいかす (ikasu)
Kun’yomiいける (ikeru)
Stroke order (9 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 活
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 活動 | かつどう katsudou | activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation |
| 生活 | せいかつ seikatsu | life; living; livelihood |
| 活発 | かっぱつ kappatsu | lively; active; vigorous |
| 活性 | かっせい kassei | activity; active |
| 活躍 | かつやく katsuyaku | activity (esp. energetic or successful); great efforts; active participation |
| 復活 | ふっかつ fukkatsu | revival (of an old system, custom, fashion, etc.); restoration; return |
Study notes
活 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #171 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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