Back to dictionary
JLPT N52画 · 2 strokesradical 二grade 1freq #10

two

On'yomi (音読み)

Kun'yomi (訓読み)

  • ふた.つ
  • ふた
  • ふたたび

Mnemonic

Imagine standing on two feet, dividing the world in half, seeing everything in pairs, as the shape of the kanji resembles two horizontal lines side by side.

About this kanji

The kanji 二 means "two" and is fundamental in counting and expressing pairs. It is commonly used as both a noun and in compound words. For example, 二人 (ふたり) means "two people," referring to a pair, while 二十 (にじゅう) means "twenty," combining the idea of two tens. Another common compound is 二日 (ふつか), which means "two days," often used to describe a duration of time. This kanji is straightforward to use, but be careful with its pronunciation, as it changes depending on context; for instance, when counting objects, you might use ふたつ for "two things."

Example sentences

  • 私は二回行きました。

    I went two times.

Meanings across languages

English
two
Tiếng Việt
hai
日本語
한국어
中文
id
dua
th
สอง
es
dos
fr
deux
de
zwei
pt
dois

Common compounds

  • 二人ふたりtwo people
  • 二十にじゅうtwenty
  • 二日ふつかtwo days, the second day of the month

Want to actually learn this kanji?

The dictionary is one view. The Kanji 360 app wraps every character with mnemonic images, audio readings, stroke-order animation, story context, and SRS scheduling — free to start on iPhone, iPad, and Android.