Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement

功: achievement, merits

Also: success, honor, credit

JLPT N15 strokesGrade 4Your ink: 白 Not met

力 carries the meaning · 工 gives the sound

5 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

コウkou · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 成功するせいこうするsucceed
  • 年功序列ねんこうじょれつachievement
  • 功績こうせきseniority system
  • 功労者こうろうしゃmeritorious person
  • 成功せいこう
  • 功労こうろうmeritorious deed; services
  • 奏功そうこうsuccess; achievement; fruition

クku · on'yomi

  • 功徳くどくpiousness, charity

Also read いさお, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0 · JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Flex your arm and feel the power! That's 力, representing the raw muscle and effort required to change the world.”
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
功 achievement · 力
vs巧 adroit · 丂
功 has 力 where 巧 has 丂.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · gōng

Same form: 功 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
功 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
功 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin gōng most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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