Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 3
午 noon
- Meaning
- noon
- On reading
- ゴ
- Kun reading
- -
Memory hook
Almost 牛 (cow) with the top stroke cut short. Noon was the hour of the horse on the old zodiac clock. ゴ. 午前 gozen is a.m., 午後 gogo is p.m.
Words that use 午
午前
ごぜん
a.m.
午後
ごご
p.m.
How to write 午
Stroke order · 4 strokes
1
2
3
4
- 1. The sweep down to the left.
- 2. The horizontal across the top.
- 3. The horizontal across the middle.
- 4. The vertical through the centre.
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).
午 is taught on day 9 of the kanji course, alongside 前 後, with two writing passes and a short quiz.