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Can

On’yomiか・こく
Kun’yomi-べ.き・-べ.し
MeaningsCan, Passable, Mustn't, Should Not, Do Not
5 strokes #313 most common Grade 5 Radical mouth
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 可

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

5 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 可

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 可

Radical 30 of 214
Mouth

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 可 is filed under (mouth) — radical number 30 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 口

練習 · Practice

Drill 可 right now

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

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Can か・こく -べ.き・-べ.し
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 可

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.

可能 かのう possible; potential; practicable
可能性 かのうせい possibility; chance; likelihood
許可 きょか permission; approval; authorization
認可 にんか approval; license; licence
不可能 ふかのう impossible
不可欠 ふかけつ indispensable; essential
可決 かけつ approval; adoption (of a motion, bill, etc.); passage
不可分 ふかぶん inseparable; indivisible; undetachable
不可侵 ふかしん inviolability; nonaggression; sacredness
可否 かひ propriety; right and wrong; advisability
名乗り · Name readings

How 可 is read in names

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

よし
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 可

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

地名 · In place names

Japanese towns written with 可

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

画数 · 5 strokes

Other 5-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

可 is the 313th 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 可

What does the kanji 可 mean?

可 means Can, Passable, Mustn't, Should Not, Do Not. It is the 313th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 可?

可 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) か、こく; kun'yomi (native Japanese) -べ.き、-べ.し.

How many strokes does 可 have?

可 is written with 5 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 可?

Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 5.

What is the radical of 可?

The radical of 可 is 口 (mouth), radical number 30 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 可 made of?

可 is built from 丁 (street) and 口 (mouth) and 丁 (street). 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 可?

Common words written with 可 include 可能 (かのう, possible; potential; practicable); 可能性 (かのうせい, possibility; chance; likelihood); 許可 (きょか, permission; approval; authorization).

Which kanji sound the same as 可?

可 shares a reading with 国 (こく), 化 (か), 下 (か), 加 (か), 家 (か), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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