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Six

On’yomiろく・りく
Kun’yomiむ・む.つ・むっ.つ・むい
JLPT N5 4 strokes #93 most common Grade 1 Radical eight
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 六

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

4 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 六

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 六

Radical 12 of 214
Eight

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 六 is filed under (eight) — radical number 12 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 八

練習 · Practice

Drill 六 right now

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

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Six ろく・りく む・む.つ・むっ.つ・むい
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 六

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.

六月 ろくがつ June; sixth month of the lunar calendar
六十 ろくじゅう sixty; 60
六借しい むずかしい difficult; hard; troublesome
六ヶ敷い むずかしい difficult; hard; troublesome
六かしい むずかしい difficult; hard; troublesome
六十四分音符 ろくじゅうしぶおんぷ 64th note; hemidemisemiquaver; semidemisemiquaver
一六 じゅうろく sixteen; 16
十六 じゅうろく sixteen; 16
六角 ろっかく hexagon
四六時中 しろくじちゅう around the clock; day and night
名乗り · Name readings

How 六 is read in names

Japanese names use readings that appear nowhere else in the language. These are 六's — the reason personal and place names are so hard to read even for native speakers.

むつろっろつ
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 六

Japanese has far more kanji than syllables, so one reading is shared by many characters. These are the ones you will confuse with 六 — learn them together, not separately.

地名 · In place names

Japanese towns written with 六

Place names are where kanji readings get strange — and where you meet this character in the wild.

画数 · 4 strokes

Other 4-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

六 is the 93rd most common kanji in written Japanese. Learning in frequency order is the fastest route to reading real text.

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質問 · Questions

About the kanji 六

What does the kanji 六 mean?

六 means Six. It is the 93rd most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 六?

六 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) ろく、りく; kun'yomi (native Japanese) む、む.つ、むっ.つ、むい.

How many strokes does 六 have?

六 is written with 4 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 六?

It appears at JLPT level N5, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 1.

What is the radical of 六?

The radical of 六 is 八 (eight), radical number 12 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 六 made of?

六 is built from 亠 (kettle lid radical (no. 8)) and 八 (eight). 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 六?

Common words written with 六 include 六月 (ろくがつ, June; sixth month of the lunar calendar); 六十 (ろくじゅう, sixty; 60); 六借しい (むずかしい, difficult; hard; troublesome).

Which kanji sound the same as 六?

六 shares a reading with 録 (ろく), 陸 (ろく), 鹿 (ろく), 緑 (ろく), 禄 (ろく), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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