Japanese kanji 女: woman

The idea

女 has 3 strokes. Follow the order in the linked KanjiVG diagram. Compare 女の人（おんなのひと）, “woman”, with 女性（じょせい）, “woman; female”. A character may be read differently from word to word; learn each word as a unit.

Examples

• 女おんなの人ひとが駅えきにいます。There is a woman at the station.
• 女おんなの子こが本ほんを読よんでいます。The girl is reading a book.
• あの女性じょせいは先生せんせいです。That woman is a teacher.
• 女おんなの人ひとが水みずを飲のみます。The woman drinks water.
• 少女しょうじょは駅えきにいます。The girl is at the station.
• 女おんなの子こは犬いぬと遊あそんでいます。The girl is playing with a dog.

Watch out

女の人 is a common everyday expression; 女性 is more formal. 女 alone can sound blunt when referring to a person. Compare the shape of 女 with 奴; notice how their components differ.

Try it yourself

1. Write the reading of 女の人 (woman) in hiragana.

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   おんなのひと

   女の人 is read おんなのひと and means “woman”. Remember the reading as part of the whole word.

2. Write the reading of 女性 (woman; female) in hiragana.

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   じょせい

   女性 is read じょせい and means “woman; female”. Remember the reading as part of the whole word.

3. Fill in the missing kanji: ＿の子（おんなのこ）.

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   女

   女 completes 女の子（おんなのこ）, meaning “girl”.

4. Which word means “girl”? Write the whole word using kanji: 女の子 or 女性.

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   女の子

   女の子 is read おんなのこ and means “girl”. Remember the reading as part of the whole word. 女性 instead means “woman; female”.

Use it today

Write 女 three times following the linked stroke diagram. Cover the table, read 女の人 and 女性 aloud, and then check their readings and meanings.