去
去 — Gone
gone, past, quit, leave, elapse, eliminate
On’yomiキョ (kyo)
On’yomiコ (ko)
Kun’yomiさる (saru)
Kun’yomi-さる (saru)
Stroke order (5 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 去
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 過去 | かこ kako | the past; bygone days; one's past (that one would prefer remained secret) |
| 死去 | しきょ shikyo | death; decease; passing away |
| 撤去 | てっきょ tekkyo | removal; taking away; dismantling (a building, facilities, etc.) |
| 除去 | じょきょ jokyo | removal; getting rid of |
| 去年 | きょねん kyonen | last year |
| 退去 | たいきょ taikyo | departure; leaving; going away |
Study notes
去 is a JLPT N4 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #440 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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