故 – happenstance, especially, intentionally

9 strokesTaught in grade 5#612 in newspaper frequencyN4 vocabulary

The kanji 故 means happenstance, especially, intentionally, reason, cause, circumstances, the late, therefore. Its on’yomi (Chinese-derived reading) is コ (ko); its kun’yomi (native Japanese reading) is ゆえ、ふる.い、もと (yue, furui, moto). It is written with 9 strokes, under radical 攴 (no. 66).

Stroke order

Stroke order from KanjiVG. Practise others with the stroke order lookup.

Readings

Type	Reading	Romaji
On’yomi	コ	ko
Kun’yomi	ゆえ	yue
Kun’yomi	ふる.い	furui
Kun’yomi	もと	moto

A dot separates the kanji’s part from the okurigana (kana written after it), e.g. まな.ぶ → 学ぶ.

Radical and components

Radical: 攴 (Kangxi radical 66). Components: 口・十・攵・乞.

Words using 故

故障こしょうfault事故じこaccident故郷こきょうhometown故人こじんthe deceased故郷ふるさとhometown故ゆえreason故こthe late

Example sentences

車が故障したので遅れました。

I was late because my car broke down.

Tatoeba #149121

その事故について彼に質問した。

I asked him about the accident.

Tatoeba #209899

故人をしのんで、記念碑が建てられた。

A monument was erected in memory of the deceased.

Tatoeba #174513

Kanji with the same radical

政改数教放整敗攻散救敏敬敵敷敢

Sources: KANJIDIC2 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0), Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). About the data.