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Emulate

On’yomiきょう・けい
Kun’yomiきそ.う・せ.る・くら.べる
MeaningsEmulate, Compete With, Bid, Sell At Auction, Bout, Contest
JLPT N2 20 strokes #601 most common Grade 4 Radical stand
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 競

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

20 strokes
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部首 · Radical

The radical of 競

Radical 117 of 214
Stand

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 競 is filed under (stand) — radical number 117 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 立

練習 · Practice

Drill 競 right now

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

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Emulate きょう・けい きそ.う・せ.る・くら.べる
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 競

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.

競争 きょうそう competition; contest; rivalry
競技 きょうぎ game; match; contest
競べる くらべる to compare; to make a comparison (between); to compete (on)
競馬 けいば horse racing
陸上競技 りくじょうきょうぎ track and field; athletics
競馬場 けいばじょう racecourse; race track
競る せる to compete; to bid; to sell at auction
競合う せりあう to struggle for; to compete with; to vie with
競り合う せりあう to struggle for; to compete with; to vie with
競売 きょうばい auction
名乗り · Name readings

How 競 is read in names

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

かいわたなべ
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 競

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

画数 · 20 strokes

Other 20-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

競 is the 601st 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 競

What does the kanji 競 mean?

競 means Emulate, Compete With, Bid, Sell At Auction, Bout, Contest. It is the 601st most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 競?

競 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) きょう、けい; kun'yomi (native Japanese) きそ.う、せ.る、くら.べる.

How many strokes does 競 have?

競 is written with 20 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 競?

It appears at JLPT level N2, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 4.

What is the radical of 競?

The radical of 競 is 立 (stand), radical number 117 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 words use the kanji 競?

Common words written with 競 include 競争 (きょうそう, competition; contest; rivalry); 競技 (きょうぎ, game; match; contest); 競べる (くらべる, to compare; to make a comparison (between); to compete (on)).

Which kanji sound the same as 競?

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

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