句 means “phrase, verse, line”

く · ku

Also: clause, sentence, passage

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ク

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 5 · 5 strokes

The story

A mouth (口) wrapped (勹) in a closing curve: words held together as one phrase. A haiku is one 句 of five, seven and five sounds, 文句 is a complaint, and 句読点 are the 、 and 。 that punctuate Japanese.

Used in 文句 (monku, complaint), 俳句 (haiku, haiku), and 句読点 (kutouten, punctuation marks)

More from Poems & Songs

• 朗 clear
• 謡 song
• 琴 koto
• 墨 ink
• 譜 musical score
• 叙 narrate
• 吟 chant
• 詠 compose (a poem)
• 唄 song
• 韻 rhyme
• 喩 metaphor
• 彙 collection

Learn 句 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.