聞
聞 — Hear
hear, ask, listen
On’yomiブン (bun)
On’yomiモン (mon)
Kun’yomiきく (kiku)
Kun’yomiきこえる (kikoeru)
Stroke order (14 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 聞
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 新聞 | しんぶん shinbun | newspaper |
| 聞かす | きかす kikasu | to let (someone) hear; to tell (e.g. a story); to inform (of) |
| 新聞社 | しんぶんしゃ shinbunsha | newspaper company |
| 聞き手 | ききて kikite | hearer; listener; audience |
| 新聞紙 | しんぶんし shinbunshi | newsprint; newspaper used for wrapping, packing, etc.; newspaper |
| 前代未聞 | ぜんだいみもん zendaimimon | unheard-of; unprecedented; unparalleled in history (unparallelled) |
Study notes
聞 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 14 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #319 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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