Nihoner
漢字 Kanji list Games
Log in Play Kanji Duel

Five

On’yomi
Kun’yomiいつつ
MeaningsFive, Five-man Squad, File, Line
JLPT N1 6 strokes #1828 most common Name kanji Radical man
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 伍

Stroke order is not decoration — it determines how the character looks handwritten and how dictionaries index it.

6 strokes
✎ Now write it yourself

Draw it on screen and be marked on stroke order and direction.

分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 伍

Almost every kanji is built from a small set of reusable parts. Learn the parts once and you stop memorising thousands of unrelated shapes.

部首 · Radical

The radical of 伍

Radical 9 of 214
Man

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 伍 is filed under (man) — radical number 9 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 人

練習 · Practice

Drill 伍 right now

Three quick games built from this character's real data. Your streak is kept in this browser.

0Streak
0Best
0Correct
Tap to reveal
Five ご いつつ
What does it mean?
Which kanji is it?
熟語 · In real words

Words that use 伍

Kanji are almost never met alone. These are the most common words built from this character, ordered by how often they actually appear in Japanese.

伍つ いつつ five; five years of age; eight o'clock (old time system)
伍長 ごちょう corporal
伍する ごする to rank with; to rank among
落伍 ラクゴ straggling, falling behind, being left behind, dropping out; falling behind the ranks, fal
隊伍 タイゴ rank (of troops), line, formation, array, procession
伍喜 ゴキ -job, stimulating the penis with a body part
卒伍 ソツゴ rank and file, the ranks
伍せ ゴセ to rank with, to rank among
伍し ゴシ to rank with, to rank among
伍すれ ゴスレ to rank with, to rank among
名乗り · Name readings

How 伍 is read in names

Japanese names use readings that appear nowhere else in the language. These are 伍's — the reason personal and place names are so hard to read even for native speakers.

くみあつむ
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 伍

Japanese has far more kanji than syllables, so one reading is shared by many characters. These are the ones you will confuse with 伍 — learn them together, not separately.

画数 · 6 strokes

Other 6-stroke kanji

Useful when looking a character up by stroke count — and a common source of visual mix-ups.

頻度 · Frequency

Next in the frequency list

伍 is the 1828th most common kanji in written Japanese. Learning in frequency order is the fastest route to reading real text.

Think you know which kanji is more common?

Kanji Duel pits 伍 and 3,000 others head to head. One life. How long can you last?

Enter the Duel →
質問 · Questions

About the kanji 伍

What does the kanji 伍 mean?

伍 means Five, Five-man Squad, File, Line. It is the 1828th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 伍?

伍 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) ご; kun'yomi (native Japanese) いつつ.

How many strokes does 伍 have?

伍 is written with 6 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 伍?

It appears at JLPT level N1, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in name kanji.

What is the radical of 伍?

The radical of 伍 is 人 (man), radical number 9 of the 214 Kangxi radicals. The radical is the component a dictionary files the character under, and it usually points at the character's meaning.

What parts is the kanji 伍 made of?

伍 is built from 亻 (radical number 9) and 五 (five). Learning kanji as combinations of a few hundred reusable components is far more efficient than memorising each character as a separate shape.

What words use the kanji 伍?

Common words written with 伍 include 伍つ (いつつ, five; five years of age; eight o'clock (old time system)); 伍長 (ごちょう, corporal); 伍する (ごする, to rank with; to rank among).

Which kanji sound the same as 伍?

伍 shares a reading with 後 (ご), 五 (ご), 期 (ご), 午 (ご), 語 (ご), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

None of this is being saved

Signed in, we would remember every character you have looked at — and write you reading you can actually get through, built from exactly those.

Start remembering — free
Free account · 3 passages a day · no card