What does the kanji 子 mean?

The kanji 子 (ko) means "child". It is a JLPT N5 character.

"ko" is written with the kanji 子, meaning "child". Its readings are onyomi (Chinese-derived) し (shi), す (su), つ (tsu), kunyomi (native Japanese) こ (ko), ね (ne). It is a JLPT N5 character.

How do you write the kanji 子?

Write 子 ("child") by following the correct stroke order. Use the interactive, step-by-step stroke order animation on this page to practise each stroke in sequence and build muscle memory.

What are the readings of 子?

子 has these readings: onyomi (Chinese-derived) し (shi), す (su), つ (tsu), kunyomi (native Japanese) こ (ko), ね (ne).

子“child” Kanjiko / shi

JLPT N5

How to write 子

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Meaning and readings

Meaning

child

Onyomi (音読み)

し shi
す su
つ tsu

Chinese reading

Kunyomi (訓読み)

こ ko
ね ne

Japanese reading

Practice 子 on paper — a printable tracing grid with stroke order

Or get all 82 N5 sheets as one free PDF (downloads to your device)

Example sentences using 子

Human-reviewed sentence pairs from the Tatoeba corpus, with readings shown above the kanji.

いい子こにしてないとサンタさん来こないよ。
If you don't behave, Santa won't come.
子 (こ)
JP#3689568bytommy_sanEN#4525582byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project
お子こさんは何なん人にんいらっしゃいますか？
How many children do you have?
お子さん (おこさん)
JP#3440978bytommy_sanEN#24512byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project
子こどもはじっとしていないものだ。
Children don't keep still.
子ども (こども)
JP#168864bysmall_snowEN#245626— no individual contributor (Tanaka Corpus import)CC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project