女 means “woman / female”

Watch: Gen and Shibamaru learn 女

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Where 女 comes from

女 is often explained as a picture of a woman kneeling with her arms crossed.

Stroke order (3 strokes)

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3

Words with 女

• 

  女の人おんなのひと

  ONNANOHITO

  woman

• 

  女の子おんなのこ

  ONNANOKO

  girl

• 

  女性じょせい

  JOSEI

  female

• 

  女湯おんなゆ

  ONNAYU

  women's bath

The part of each word written with 女 is shown in orange. Audio: the readings from our video.

Reading tips

• Saying just 女 (ONNA) can sound rude. 女の人 (ONNA NO HITO) is the polite way to say "woman," and 女性 (JOSEI) is the formal word.
• At many hot springs and public baths, the women's bath has a red curtain and the men's bath a blue one, but not everywhere. Always check the kanji: 女 for women, 男 for men.
• Put 女 and 子 (child) side by side and you get 好, the kanji in 好き (SUKI, to like).

In the video

• Shibamaruあの 女の人は だれ？Who's that woman?
• Genおれの 先生だ！She's my teacher!

Example sentences

• あの 女の人は だれですか。

  ANO ONNA NO HITO WA DARE DESU KA.

  Who is that woman?

• 女の子が 本を よんでいます。

  ONNA NO KO GA HON O YONDE IMASU.

  A girl is reading a book.

Keep learning kanji

• GENKI I Textbook (3rd Edition)

  Beginner

  A popular first textbook used in many university courses. Each lesson has a dialogue, grammar explanations in English, and plenty of practice.

  View on Amazon

• Minna no Nihongo Beginner I Main Textbook (2nd Edition)

  Beginner

  Written entirely in Japanese, with lots of sentence-pattern practice. Use it together with the Translation & Grammar Notes book.

  View on Amazon