Explore 村 in words about villages and their residents. Learn each reading with a complete word and a useful sentence.

The idea

村 has 7 strokes; follow the linked diagram. Alone it is 村（むら）; 村人（むらびと） also uses むら, while 村長（そんちょう） and 農村（のうそん） use そん.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
村むらvillage
村人むらびとvillager
村長そんちょうvillage head
農村のうそんfarming village

Examples

  • 村むらの祭まつりに行いきました。I went to the village festival.
  • 祖父そふは山やまの村むらに住すんでいます。My grandfather lives in a mountain village.
  • 村人むらびとが川かわを掃除そうじしました。The villagers cleaned the river.
  • 村長そんちょうが計画けいかくを説明せつめいしました。The village head explained the plan.
  • 農村のうそんで野菜やさいを育そだてています。I grow vegetables in a farming village.
  • 村むらの入口いりぐちに大おおきな木きがあります。There is a large tree at the entrance to the village.

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

Watch out

Do not assume every compound uses そん: 村人 uses むら. Also distinguish 村, a village, from 町, a town.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 村 in hiragana.

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    むら

    村 is むら: the standalone word means village, as in the village festival.

  2. Write the reading of 農村 in hiragana.

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    のうそん

    農村 is のうそん: 農 indicates farming and 村 is read そん in this compound.

  3. Choose the missing kanji: ＿長（そんちょう）［村／町］.

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    村

    村 makes 村長（そんちょう）, the village head. 町長 is a town head and has a different reading.

Use it today

Write 村 in stroke order, cover the table and read 村人 and 農村. Then make a sentence about a village.