The kanji 負: meaning, readings and stroke order

負

Meaning: lose, carry
On reading: フ fu
Kun reading: ま（ける） makeru、ま（かす） makasu、お（う） ou
Strokes: 9
Radical: 貝 shell
Level: Level 3 · grade 3

Stroke order

Meaning in other languages

Vietnamese: thua, gánh vác (phụ)
Japanese: まける。せおう。
Korean: 지다, 짊어지다 (부)
Chinese: 输、背负 (负)

Readings, words and example sentences

フ fu · on reading

勝しょう負ぶ
match, win or lose
明日 勝しょう負ぶが決まります。
Tomorrow we will find out who wins.

ま（ける） makeru · kun reading

負まける
to lose
今日は兄に 負まけました。
Today I lost to my big brother.

ま（かす） makasu · kun reading · less common

負まかす
to beat, to defeat
強い相手を 負まかしました。
We beat a strong team.

お（う） ou · kun reading · less common

負おう
to carry on one's back
重い荷を 負おって 歩きます。
I walk with a heavy load on my back.

Practise writing 負 in the app

In Dino Kids your child writes 負 with a finger and every stroke is checked, then takes the Level 3 practice test. Free, no ads, no in-app purchases.

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Readings, radicals: Kanjium, KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); strokes: KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); Korean, simplified forms: Unicode Unihan. Meanings, sentences: Dino Kids (CC0). See Licences.