ku / く
The middle of the K row — a flowing 'ku' that takes just one stroke and packs into countless verbs.
Pronunciation
The character く represents the syllable 'ku', a hard 'k' followed by 'u'. The 'u' sound is short and the lips are relaxed (not rounded). Part of the か-row. In casual speech the 'u' can become almost silent, especially at the end of common verbs.
く is one of the simplest hiragana — a single stroke, almost a chevron. It sits third in the K row and forms the stem of essential verbs: 行く (to go), 聞く (to listen), 書く (to write). Once you know く, every -く verb ending you'll meet for the next year of study is already familiar territory.
How to write く
Trace く on the canvas at the top of the page. Animated arrows show each stroke's direction; trace along them and the stroke fills in. Each numbered step below explains what that stroke does.
A single stroke shaped like an opening angle bracket. Start at the upper right, sweep down and to the left to a sharp point near the middle, then back down and out to the lower right. One smooth motion — don't lift the pen.
Origin
Hiragana く derives from the kanji 久 (ku) — meaning "long time" or "lasting." The cursive form compressed the kanji's diagonal strokes into the single sweeping angle we draw today, preserving only the essential V-shape.
Common words starting with く
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing く by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
Reading is only half of it. Drill the hiragana you’ve learned with spaced-repetition flashcards — the fastest way to make them stick.