来 Kanji: Meaning, Readings and Stroke Order

来: come; arrive; next; future. JLPT N5; 7 strokes.

Readings

On readings

ライ、タイ

Kun readings

く.る、きた.る、きた.す

Romaji

rai, tai, kuru, kitaru, kitasu

Study notes

来 expresses coming and arriving and, in compounds referring to time, means 'next'.

On readings: ライ in 来年 (らいねん, next year), 来月 (らいげつ, next month), 来週 (らいしゅう, next week), 将来 (しょうらい, the future), 以来 (いらい, since then), 来日 (らいにち, arrival in Japan). タイ is extremely rare.

Kun readings: くる (来る, to come) is an irregular verb, and the reading of the kanji changes with the verb form: 来る (くる), 来ます (きます), 来ない (こない), 来た (きた), 来て (きて). Used attributively, きたる (来る) means 'next, forthcoming' in formal writing. きたす (来す) means 'to cause, to bring about'.

Special readings: 出来る (できる, to be able to, to know how to do something; to be ready) uses 来 with the reading き and is now often written in hiragana.

Remember: The okurigana and verb form indicate how to read 来: く in 来る, き in 来ます, こ in 来ない.

Example words

• 来年 (らいねん) — next year
• 来る (くる) — to come
• 来る (きたる) — to come; forthcoming

Example sentences

友だちが来ます。

tomodachi ga kimasu.

A friend is coming.

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.