五 Kanji: Meaning, Readings and Stroke Order

五: five; fifth. JLPT N5; 4 strokes.

Readings

On readings

ゴ

Kun readings

いつ-、いつ.つ

Romaji

go, itsu

Study notes

五 is the number five; it also indicates 'fifth'.

On reading: ゴ in 五月 (ごがつ, May), 五分 (ごふん, five minutes), 五人 (ごにん, five people), 五十音 (ごじゅうおん, the tabular order of kana), 五輪 (ごりん, the Olympic Games).

Kun reading: いつ, especially in 五つ (いつつ, five, five objects) and 五日 (いつか, the 5th of the month; five days).

Special readings: 五月雨 (さみだれ, early summer rain) and 五月蝿い (うるさい, noisy, annoying, usually written in hiragana) are read as whole words.

Remember: 五十音 (ごじゅうおん) is the name of the tabular order of kana from あ to ん.

Example words

• 五つ (いつつ) — five things
• 五月 (ごがつ) — May
• 五日 (いつか) — five days; the fifth day of the month

Example sentences

りんごが五つあります。

ringo ga itsutsu arimasu.

There are five apples.

Stroke order

Follow the steps in order. Each new stroke is highlighted.

Stroke paths: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sequential diagrams derived from the original paths.