食 — Kanji Reference

食 (eat, food): 9 strokes, JLPT N5. On: ショク、ジキ. Kun: た-べる、く-う.

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食

Property Value
Meaning eat, food
Strokes 9
JLPT Level N5
On-reading (音読み) ショク、ジキ
Kun-reading (訓読み) た-べる、く-う
Radical 食 (しょくへん) [U+98DF]

Stroke Order

The stroke order for 食 follows the standard rule of top-to-bottom and left-to-right. Note that the top part is written as a "hat" (人) followed by the horizontal stroke.

  1. Stroke 1: Top dot (left)
  2. Stroke 2: Horizontal stroke (right)
  3. Stroke 3: Horizontal stroke (right)
  4. Stroke 4: Vertical hook (center)
  5. Stroke 5: Horizontal stroke (left)
  6. Stroke 6: Diagonal stroke (left)
  7. Stroke 7: Horizontal stroke (bottom)
  8. Stroke 8: Diagonal stroke (right)
  9. Stroke 9: Dot (bottom right)

Radical Analysis

The radical is 食 (しょくへん - shokuhen), which represents "food" or "eating."

  • The top part (人 + 一) represents a lid or a cover over a container.
  • The bottom part (良) is a phonetic component that also implies "good" or "grain." Together, they depict a container of good food, which evolved into the character for eating.

Mnemonic

Imagine a lid (top part) covering a bowl of rice (bottom part). You lift the lid to eat the food inside. The shape looks like a table with a bowl of food sitting on top of it.

On-readings (音読み) with Examples

ショク (Shoku)

Word Reading Romaji English
食事 しょくじ shokuji meal
食堂 しょくどう shokudō cafeteria
朝食 ちょうしょく chōshoku breakfast
外食 がいしょく gaishoku eating out

ジキ (Jiki)

Word Reading Romaji English
欠食 けつじき ketsujiki missing a meal
食客 じきかく jikikaku a dependent/guest

Kun-readings (訓読み) with Examples

た-べる (Taberu)

Word Reading Romaji English
食べる たべる taberu to eat
食べ物 たべもの tabemono food

く-う (Kuu)

Word Reading Romaji English
食う くう kuu to eat (rough/masculine)
食らいつく くらいつく kuraitsuku to bite into/snap at

JLPT N5 Words Using 食

Word Reading Romaji English JLPT
食べる たべる taberu to eat N5
食べ物 たべもの tabemono food N5
朝食 ちょうしょく chōshoku breakfast N4
昼食 ちゅうしょく chūshoku lunch N4
夕食 ゆうしょく yūshoku dinner N4
食事 しょくじ shokuji meal N4
食堂 しょくどう shokudō cafeteria N4
外食 がいしょく gaishoku eating out N3
食べ放題 たべほうだい tabehōdai all-you-can-eat N3
食料 しょくりょう shokuryō food supplies N3

Example Sentences

Japanese Reading Romaji English
何を食べますか。 なにをたべますか。 Nani o tabemasu ka. What will you eat?
朝食はパンです。 ちょうしょくはパンです。 Chōshoku wa pan desu. Breakfast is bread.
食堂で昼食を食べました。 しょくどうでちゅうしょくをたべました。 Shokudō de chūshoku o tabemashita. I ate lunch at the cafeteria.
彼は夕食を食べに行きました。 かれはゆうしょくをたべにいきました。 Kare wa yūshoku o tabe ni ikimashita. He went to eat dinner.
食べ物を大切にしましょう。 たべものをたいせつにしましょう。 Tabemono o taisetsu ni shimashō. Let's cherish our food.
週末はよく外食します。 しゅうまつはよくがいしょくします。 Shūmatsu wa yoku gaishoku shimasu. I often eat out on weekends.

Common Confusion Pairs

Kanji Reading Meaning How to distinguish
食 ショク Eat/Food Has the "lid" top and "good" bottom.
良 リョウ Good Lacks the "lid" (人+一) at the top.
飲 イン Drink Has the "eat" radical on the left, but "drink" (mouth) on the right.

Usage Frequency Note

食 is one of the most frequently used kanji in the Japanese language. It appears daily in almost every context, from casual conversation (食べる) to formal business or news (食事, 食料). It is essential for daily survival in Japan, as it appears on menus, signs, and grocery packaging.