Japanese kanji 川: river

The idea

A kanji can have Japanese-origin readings (kun) and readings borrowed through Chinese (on); learn each reading with its word. Compare 川（かわ） and 小川（おがわ） in the table. 川 has 3 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram.

Examples

• 川かわの水みずはきれいです。The river water is clear.
• 橋はしで川かわを渡わたります。I cross the river by the bridge.
• 川かわの近ちかくに住すんでいます。I live near a river.
• この川かわは長ながいです。This river is long.
• 小川おがわに魚さかながいます。There are fish in the stream.
• 川かわの向むこうに山やまがあります。There is a mountain across the river.

Watch out

川 is かわ, but in 小川 it becomes がわ by voicing. Compare the separate strokes of 川 with 山, which is joined at the bottom.

Try it yourself

1. Write the reading of 川 in hiragana.

   Show answer or example answer

   かわ

   川 is read かわ; the whole expression means river. 川 is used here as a word on its own.

2. Write the reading of 小川 in hiragana.

   Show answer or example answer

   おがわ

   小川 is read おがわ; the whole expression means stream. Here 川 takes the voiced reading がわ.

3. Fill in the missing kanji: ＿の水（かわのみず）.

   Show answer or example answer

   川

   川 completes 川の水, which is read かわのみず. The completed expression means river water.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 川 from memory, and read 川 and 小川 aloud. Then check both readings and meanings.