# 増 — increase; grow

増 means “increase; grow”. It is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 14 strokes. On'yomi: ゾウ (zou). Kun'yomi: ま(す) (masu), ふ(える) (fueru). You'll see it in words such as 増える (fueru, “to increase; to multiply”).

- Meaning: increase; grow
- On'yomi: ゾウ (zou)
- Kun'yomi: ま(す) (masu), ふ(える) (fueru)
- Strokes: 14
- Level: JLPT N3 · set Numbers & amounts 1

## How to remember 増

Earth (土) heaped on what was there formerly (曽): increase.

Parts: 土 earth · 曽 formerly

## Words with 増

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 増える | ふえる (fueru) | to increase; to multiply |
| 増やす | ふやす (fuyasu) | to increase; to add to |
| 増す | ます (masu) | to increase; to grow |

## Don't confuse it with

[曽](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/formerly/) · [層](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/layer/) · [憎](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/detest/) · [僧](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/buddhist-monk/)

## More in the “Numbers & amounts 1” set

[全](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/whole/) · [最](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/most/) · [約](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/promise/) · [総](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/overall/) · [加](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/add/) · [数](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/number/) · [第](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/ordinal-number/) · [増](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/increase/) · [各](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/each/)

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/increase/. Last updated 2026-11-01.