不 · negative, non-, bad

JLPT N4 kanji. Readings, meaning, and how the character is built.

不 means negative, non-, bad. It is a JLPT N4 kanji written in 4 strokes, read ふ or ぶ. It is built from 3 parts: 一 (one, one radical (no.1)), 丿 (katakana no radical (no. 4)), 丨 (number one, line). It appears in 不便 (inconvenience) and 不安 (anxiety / unease / insecurity).

筆順 · Stroke order

不 is written in 4 strokes, in the order numbered below. Order matters: it is what makes handwriting legible, and it is how the character is looked up in a paper dictionary.

解字 · What it is made of

不 breaks into 3 parts.

• 一 semantic one, one radical (no.1) carries the meaning
• 丿 other katakana no radical (no. 4) component
• 丨 other number one, line component

Words that use 不

Word	Reading	Meaning
不便	ふべん	inconvenience
不安	ふあん	anxiety / unease / insecurity
不運	ふうん	unlucky / misfortune / bad luck

Built from the same parts

These use 一 or 丿 or 丨 too. The part keeps its job from one character to the next, which is what makes it worth learning once.

• 三three
• 七seven
• 百hundred
• 万ten thousand
• 上above
• 下below
• 天sky
• 両both

Practise 不

Sumi teaches the character before it tests you: stroke order animated, the breakdown above shown as a pull-apart X-ray, then spaced review. Free, in your browser, no signup.

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