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Strong

On’yomiきょう・ごう
Kun’yomiつよ.い・つよ.まる・つよ.める・し.いる・こわ.い
JLPT N4 11 strokes #112 most common Grade 2 Radical bow
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 強

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

11 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 強

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

radical bow =
Strong
Why it sounds the way it does. The part is the phonetic component — it carries the sound rather than the meaning. That is why 強 is read きょう. Roughly two-thirds of all kanji work this way, which makes unfamiliar readings guessable once you spot the pattern.
部首 · Radical

The radical of 強

Radical 57 of 214
Bow

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 強 is filed under (bow) — radical number 57 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 弓

練習 · Practice

Drill 強 right now

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Strong きょう・ごう つよ.い・つよ.まる・つよ.める・し.いる・こわ.い
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 強

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.

強化 きょうか strengthening; intensifying; reinforcement
強制 きょうせい compulsion; coercion; forcing (to do)
勉強 べんきょう study; diligence; working hard
強力 きょうりょく powerful; strong
強硬 きょうこう firm; strong; unbending
強さ つよさ strength; power
強盗 ごうとう robber; mugger; robbery
強気 つよき confident; assured; self-assured
強き つよき confident; assured; self-assured
強烈 きょうれつ strong; intense; severe
名乗り · Name readings

How 強 is read in names

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

すね
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 強

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

画数 · 11 strokes

Other 11-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

強 is the 112th 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 強

What does the kanji 強 mean?

強 means Strong. It is the 112th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 強?

強 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) きょう、ごう; kun'yomi (native Japanese) つよ.い、つよ.まる、つよ.める、し.いる、こわ.い.

How many strokes does 強 have?

強 is written with 11 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 強?

It appears at JLPT level N4, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 2.

What is the radical of 強?

The radical of 強 is 弓 (bow), radical number 57 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.

Why is 強 read きょう?

強 contains 弓 as its phonetic component — the part that carries the sound rather than the meaning, which is why 強 is read きょう. Roughly two-thirds of all kanji are built this way, so spotting the phonetic component often lets you guess the reading of a character you have never seen.

What words use the kanji 強?

Common words written with 強 include 強化 (きょうか, strengthening; intensifying; reinforcement); 強制 (きょうせい, compulsion; coercion; forcing (to do)); 勉強 (べんきょう, study; diligence; working hard).

Which kanji sound the same as 強?

強 shares a reading with 合 (ごう), 業 (ごう), 京 (きょう), 経 (きょう), 協 (きょう), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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