Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 6
買 buy
- Meaning
- buy
- On reading
- バイ
- Kun reading
- か(う)
Memory hook
A net over 貝 (shell). Shells were the old money, so a net full of money is buying. バイ in compounds, か(う) on its own.
Words that use 買
買う
かう
to buy
買い物
かいもの
shopping
How to write 買
Stroke order · 12 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
- 1. Vertical.
- 2. Horizontal, then turn down.
- 3 to 4. A short dot.
- 5. Horizontal.
- 6. Vertical.
- 7. Horizontal, then turn down.
- 8 to 10. Horizontal.
- 11. The sweep down to the left.
- 12. The diagonal down to the right.
Stroke data from KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
General rules
- Top to bottom, left to right.
- Horizontal strokes before crossing vertical ones (十 = horizontal, then vertical).
- Outside before inside - but close a box last (口).
- A vertical that passes all the way through comes last (中).
- Left-falling diagonal before right-falling (大).
買 is taught on day 26 of the kanji course, alongside 食 飲, with two writing passes and a short quiz.