余
余 — Too much
too much, myself, surplus, other, remainder
On’yomiヨ (yo)
Kun’yomiあまる (amaru)
Kun’yomiあまり (amari)
Kun’yomiあます (amasu)
Kun’yomiあんまり (anmari)
Stroke order (7 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 余
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 余裕 | よゆう yoyuu | surplus; margin; leeway |
| 余地 | よち yochi | place; room; margin |
| 余儀ない | よぎない yoginai | unavoidable; inevitable; beyond one's control |
| 余儀なく | よぎなく yoginaku | unavoidably; necessarily; inevitably |
| 余暇 | よか yoka | leisure; leisure time; spare time |
| 余計 | よけい yokei | extra; more; too much |
Study notes
余 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 7 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #680 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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