能 — “ability / talent” in Japanese

Grade 5のう

Radical ⾁ · radical 130 The building block this kanji is filed under

“ability / talent” in Japanese is 能, read nou (のう). It is a Grade 5 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 5 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 可能 (possibility).

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What does 能 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	能
Meaning	ability / talent
Readings	のう
Grade	Grade 5 (Hard)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	可能 (possibility)

How to read 能

能 is read nou (のう) depending on the word.

Words with 能

可能性かのうせい
可能

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Kanji read the same way as 能

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Updated: 2026-08-28