Meet 風 in words about wind, colds and baths. The examples connect each reading to a useful everyday context.

The idea

風 has 9 strokes; follow their order in the linked diagram. Read 風（かぜ） and 台風（たいふう） as complete words, because a character’s pronunciation depends on the word.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingExample in context
風かぜThe wind is strong today.
台風たいふうA typhoon is approaching.
風邪かぜI caught a cold and missed school.
お風呂おふろI take a bath in the evening.

Examples

  • 今日きょうは風かぜが強つよいです。The wind is strong today.
  • 風かぜが冷つめたくなりました。The wind has become cold.
  • 山やまで風かぜが吹ふいています。The wind is blowing in the mountains.
  • 台風たいふうが近ちかづいています。A typhoon is approaching.
  • 風邪かぜをひいて、学校がっこうを休やすみました。I caught a cold and missed school.
  • 夜よる、お風呂ふろに入はいります。I take a bath in the evening.

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

Watch out

風（かぜ） is wind; 風邪（かぜ） is a cold. お風呂 means a bath, not the weather. Compare the shape of 風 with 凡.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 風 in hiragana. 「今日きょうは風が強つよいです。」

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    かぜ

    風 is read かぜ. In the example: The wind is strong today. Here it means “wind”.

  2. Write the reading of 台風 in hiragana. 「台風が近ちかづいています。」

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    たいふう

    台風 is read たいふう. In the example: A typhoon is approaching. Here it means “typhoon”.

  3. Write the missing kanji: ＿［風／凡］（かぜ）.

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    風

    風 completes 風, read かぜ. In the example: The wind is strong today. Here it means “wind”.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 風 from memory and read 風 and 台風 aloud. Then check the readings against the examples.