Explore 郊 in words for places outside a city. Learn each reading together with its whole word.

The idea

郊 has 9 strokes and the reading こう in 郊外（こうがい） and 近郊（きんこう）. 郊外 means the outskirts or suburbs; 近郊 refers to the area near a city.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingExample in context
郊外こうがいI live in the suburbs of Tokyo.
近郊きんこうVegetables are grown in the area near Osaka.

Examples

  • 東京とうきょうの郊外こうがいに住すんでいます。I live in the suburbs of Tokyo.
  • 市しの郊外こうがいにある公園こうえんへ行いきました。We went to a park on the outskirts of the city.
  • 郊外こうがいには農場のうじょうがたくさんあります。There are many farms on the outskirts.
  • 電車でんしゃは都心としんと郊外こうがいを結むすんでいます。The train connects the city center with the suburbs.
  • 大阪おおさかの近郊きんこうでは野菜やさいが作つくられています。Vegetables are grown in the area near Osaka.
  • 友人ゆうじんは市内しないから郊外こうがいに引ひっ越こしました。My friend moved from the city to the suburbs.

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

Watch out

郊外 is an area outside a city, while 市内 is inside it. Do not confuse 郊 with 校: both can be read こう, but 校 appears in 学校.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 郊外 in hiragana.

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    こうがい

    郊外 is read こうがい; learn the reading with the whole word for the outskirts.

  2. Write the reading of 近郊 in hiragana.

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    きんこう

    近郊 is read きんこう and refers to the area near a city.

  3. Choose the kanji for the outskirts: ＿外（こうがい）［郊／校］.

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    郊

    郊 completes 郊外（こうがい）, the outskirts; 校 belongs in words such as 学校.

Use it today

Write 郊, then cover the table and read 郊外 and 近郊. Make a sentence about a place outside a city.