Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 8
空 sky, empty
- Meaning
- sky, empty
- On reading
- クウ
- Kun reading
- そら・あ(く)
Memory hook
The cave radical over 工 (work): a space that has been hollowed out. Empty, and so the empty sky. クウ in compounds, そら on its own, あ(く) when it means to become vacant.
Words that use 空
空
そら
sky
空気
くうき
air
How to write 空
Stroke order · 8 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
- 1. A short dot.
- 2. Vertical.
- 3. Horizontal, then turn down.
- 4. The sweep down to the left.
- 5. Vertical, then turn across to the right.
- 6. Horizontal.
- 7. Vertical.
- 8. Horizontal.
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).
空 is taught on day 16 of the kanji course, alongside 天 気 雨, with two writing passes and a short quiz.