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Walk

On’yomiほ・ぶ・ふ
Kun’yomiある.く・あゆ.む
MeaningsWalk, Counter For Steps
8 strokes #546 most common Grade 2 Radical stop
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 歩

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

8 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 歩

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 歩

Radical 77 of 214
Stop

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 歩 is filed under (stop) — radical number 77 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 止

練習 · Practice

Drill 歩 right now

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

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Walk ほ・ぶ・ふ ある.く・あゆ.む
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 歩

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.

公定歩合 こうていぶあい official discount (bank) rate
一歩 いっぽ (a) step; one step; level
譲歩 じょうほ concession; conciliation; compromise
進歩 しんぽ progress; advance; improvement
第一歩 だいいっぽ first step
歩調 ほちょう pace; step; cadence
徒歩 とほ walking; going on foot
歩行 ほこう walking; walk
散歩 さんぽ walk; stroll
牛歩 ぎゅうほ snail's pace; slow progress
名乗り · Name readings

How 歩 is read in names

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

ゆきゆみ
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 歩

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

画数 · 8 strokes

Other 8-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

歩 is the 546th 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 歩

What does the kanji 歩 mean?

歩 means Walk, Counter For Steps. It is the 546th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 歩?

歩 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) ほ、ぶ、ふ; kun'yomi (native Japanese) ある.く、あゆ.む.

How many strokes does 歩 have?

歩 is written with 8 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 歩?

Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 2.

What is the radical of 歩?

The radical of 歩 is 止 (stop), radical number 77 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 歩 made of?

歩 is built from 止 (stop) and 少 (few). 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 歩?

Common words written with 歩 include 公定歩合 (こうていぶあい, official discount (bank) rate); 一歩 (いっぽ, (a) step; one step; level); 譲歩 (じょうほ, concession; conciliation; compromise).

Which kanji sound the same as 歩?

歩 shares a reading with 部 (ぶ), 不 (ぶ), 保 (ほ), 無 (ぶ), 補 (ほ), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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