黒 · black

JLPT N5 kanji. Readings, meaning, and how the character is built.

黒 means black. It is a JLPT N5 kanji written in 11 strokes, read くろ or こく. It is built from 2 parts: 里 (ri, village), 灬 (fire, fire radical (no. 86)). It appears in 黒い (black) and 真っ黒 (pitch black).

筆順 · Stroke order

黒 is written in 11 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

黒 breaks into 2 parts.

• 里 other ri, village · top component
• 灬 other fire, fire radical (no. 86) · bottom component

Words that use 黒

Word	Reading	Meaning
黒	くろ	black
黒い	くろい	black
真っ黒	まっくろ	pitch black

Built from the same parts

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

• 重heavy
• 野field
• 理reason
• 点point
• 鳥bird

Practise 黒

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.

Start with kanji, free