Meet 牛 in 牛 and 牛乳. The examples connect each word’s reading with a useful context.

The idea

牛 has 4 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram. Learn 牛（うし） and 牛乳（ぎゅうにゅう） as complete words: a character’s reading depends on the word.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingExample in context
牛うしI saw cows at the farm.
牛乳ぎゅうにゅうI drink milk in the morning.
牛肉ぎゅうにくI stir-fry beef with vegetables.
子牛こうしA calf is beside its mother.

Examples

  • 牧場ぼくじょうで牛うしを見みました。I saw cows at the farm.
  • 牛うしが草くさを食たべています。The cow is eating grass.
  • 朝あさに牛乳ぎゅうにゅうを飲のみます。I drink milk in the morning.
  • 牛肉ぎゅうにくを野菜やさいと炒いためます。I stir-fry beef with vegetables.
  • 子牛こうしが母親ははおやのそばにいます。A calf is beside its mother.
  • 昼ひるに牛丼ぎゅうどんを食たべました。I ate a beef rice bowl for lunch.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

牛 is うし on its own, but ぎゅう in 牛乳 and 牛肉. 牛乳 is cow’s milk; 豆乳 is soy milk. Compare the shapes of 牛 and 午; they are different characters.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 牛 in hiragana.

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    うし

    牛 is read うし. In context: I saw cows at the farm.

  2. Write the reading of 牛乳 in hiragana.

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    ぎゅうにゅう

    牛乳 is read ぎゅうにゅう. In context: I drink milk in the morning.

  3. Write the missing kanji: ＿（うし）.

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    牛

    牛 completes 牛, read うし. In context: I saw cows at the farm.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 牛 from memory, read 牛 and 牛乳 aloud, then make a sentence with one of them.