Meet 王 in words about rulers and kingdoms. Learn each reading with the whole word and its context.
The idea
王 has four strokes. Follow the linked stroke-order diagram. Its common reading is おう: 王（おう）, 王国（おうこく）, 女王（じょおう） and 王子（おうじ）. Keep the long vowel in おう.
| Word | Reading |
|---|---|
| 王 | おう |
| 王国 | おうこく |
| 女王 | じょおう |
| 王子 | おうじ |
Examples
- 王は城に住んでいます。The king lives in the castle.
- 王国は山に囲まれています。The kingdom is surrounded by mountains.
- 女王は人々に話しました。The queen spoke to the people.
- 王子は本を読んでいます。The prince is reading a book.
- この物語は年をとった王の話です。This story is about an old king.
- 女王は学校を訪れました。The queen visited the school.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No Japanese device voice is available. You can still read the text and use the linked listening resources.
Watch out
王 and 玉 look alike, but 玉 has an extra dot. 女王 means queen, while 王子 means prince; do not assume every word containing 王 means king.
Try it yourself
Write the reading of 王国 in hiragana.
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おうこく
王国 is おうこく: a kingdom. The おう in 王 is long.
Write the reading of 女王 in hiragana.
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じょおう
女王 is じょおう: a queen. Read the whole compound, including the long おう.
Choose the missing kanji: ＿子（おうじ）［王／玉］.
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王
王 completes 王子（おうじ）, prince. 玉 has an extra dot and does not form this word.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Japanese sentences where available. We keep your score.
Write the reading of 王国 in hiragana.
Write the reading of 女王 in hiragana.
Choose the missing kanji: ＿子（おうじ）［王／玉］.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Write 王 using the stroke-order diagram. Cover the table, read 王国 and 女王, and make a sentence with one of them.