Explore 球 through the Earth, sports and shapes. Learn each reading with a complete word and a useful context.

The idea

球 has 11 strokes; follow the linked stroke-order diagram. Its common reading キュウ appears in 地球（ちきゅう）, 野球（やきゅう）, 球場（きゅうじょう） and 球形（きゅうけい）. Learn the compounds as whole words.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingExample in context
地球ちきゅうEarth orbits the sun.
野球やきゅうWe play baseball on Sundays.
球場きゅうじょうThe stadium is near the station.
球形きゅうけいThis object is spherical.

Examples

  • 地球ちきゅうは太陽たいようの周まわりを回まわっています。Earth orbits the sun.
  • 日曜日にちようびに野球やきゅうをします。We play baseball on Sundays.
  • 球場きゅうじょうは駅えきの近ちかくです。The stadium is near the station.
  • この物ものは球形きゅうけいです。This object is spherical.
  • 新あたらしい野球やきゅうのボールを買かいました。I bought a new baseball.
  • 授業じゅぎょうで地球ちきゅうについて話はなしました。We talked about the Earth in class.

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

Watch out

球 can mean a sphere or ball, but 地球 means the Earth and 野球 means baseball, the sport. Do not confuse 球 with 求: 球 has the 玉 component on the left.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 地球 in hiragana.

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    ちきゅう

    地球 is read ちきゅう and means the Earth; 地 here refers to land.

  2. Write the reading of 野球 in hiragana.

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    やきゅう

    野球 is read やきゅう and means baseball. The whole compound names the sport.

  3. Choose the missing kanji: ＿形（きゅうけい）［球／求］.

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    球

    球 completes 球形（きゅうけい）, meaning spherical shape. 求 lacks the left-hand 玉 component.

Use it today

Write 球 using the stroke-order diagram. Cover the table, read 地球 and 野球, then make a sentence with one of them.