Explore 棒 in physical objects and familiar compounds. Connect its reading to each complete word.

The idea

棒 has 12 strokes and is read ぼう in 棒, 棒読み and 相棒. Follow the linked diagram to practise its stroke order; learn each compound as a whole.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
棒ぼうrod
木の棒きのぼうwooden stick
棒読みぼうよみmonotone reading
相棒あいぼうpartner

Examples

  • この棒ぼうを持もってください。Please hold this rod.
  • 庭にわで木きの棒ぼうを見みつけました。I found a wooden stick in the garden.
  • 子こどもが棒ぼうで線せんを描えがいています。The child is drawing a line with a stick.
  • 彼かれはスピーチを棒読ぼうよみしました。He read the speech in a monotone.
  • 相棒あいぼうが私わたしを助たすけてくれました。My partner helped me.
  • 長ながい棒ぼうを一緒いっしょに運はこびました。We carried the long rod together.

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

Watch out

棒読み means reading in a flat voice, while 相棒 means a partner; neither necessarily refers to a physical rod. 棒 has 木 on the left, unlike 奉.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 棒 in hiragana.

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    ぼう

    棒 is ぼう: it can name a rod or stick. The long vowel matters.

  2. Write the reading of 相棒 in hiragana.

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    あいぼう

    相棒 is あいぼう, a partner. Learn the compound together with its reading.

  3. Choose the missing kanji: ＿読み（ぼうよみ）［棒／奉］.

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    棒

    棒 completes 棒読み（ぼうよみ）, reading aloud in a monotone.

Use it today

Write 棒 using the diagram, then cover the table and read 棒読み and 相棒. Make a sentence with one word.