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Valley

On’yomiこく
Kun’yomiたに・きわ.まる
7 strokes #502 most common Grade 2 Radical valley
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 谷

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

7 strokes
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部首 · Radical

The radical of 谷

Radical 150 of 214
Valley

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 谷 is filed under (valley) — radical number 150 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

練習 · Practice

Drill 谷 right now

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Valley こく たに・きわ.まる
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 谷

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.

谷川 たにがわ mountain stream
谷間 たにま valley; ravine; gorge
谷あい たにま valley; ravine; gorge
渓谷 けいこく valley (with a river running through it); gorge; ravine
谿谷 けいこく valley (with a river running through it); gorge; ravine
溪谷 けいこく valley (with a river running through it); gorge; ravine
峡谷 きょうこく gorge; ravine; canyon
谷地 やち marsh land; swamp
谷底 たにぞこ valley floor; bottom of a gorge; bottom of a ravine
谷まる きわまる to reach an extreme; to reach a limit; to terminate
名乗り · Name readings

How 谷 is read in names

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

がいがえがやたりたん
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 谷

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

地名 · In place names

Japanese towns written with 谷

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

画数 · 7 strokes

Other 7-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

谷 is the 502nd 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 谷

What does the kanji 谷 mean?

谷 means Valley. It is the 502nd most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 谷?

谷 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) こく; kun'yomi (native Japanese) たに、きわ.まる.

How many strokes does 谷 have?

谷 is written with 7 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 谷?

Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 2.

What is the radical of 谷?

The radical of 谷 is 谷 (valley), radical number 150 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 谷?

Common words written with 谷 include 谷川 (たにがわ, mountain stream); 谷間 (たにま, valley; ravine; gorge); 谷あい (たにま, valley; ravine; gorge).

Which kanji sound the same as 谷?

谷 shares a reading with 国 (こく), 告 (こく), 可 (こく), 黒 (こく), 刻 (こく), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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