午
午 — Noon
noon, sign of the horse, 11AM-1PM, seventh sign of Chinese zodiac
On’yomiゴ (go)
Kun’yomiうま (uma)
Stroke order (4 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 午
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 午後 | ごご gogo | afternoon; p.m. |
| 午前 | ごぜん gozen | morning; a.m. |
| 正午 | しょうご shougo | noon; midday |
| 午 | うま uma | the Horse (seventh sign of the Chinese zodiac); hour of the Horse (around noon, 11am-1pm, or 12 noon-2pm); south |
| 午前中 | ごぜんちゅう gozenchuu | in the morning; during the morning |
| 子午線 | しごせん shigosen | meridian; meridian |
Study notes
午 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 4 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #154 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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