Hiragana
The hiragana syllabary — 46 basic characters plus voiced, semi-voiced, and combination marks
Can read and write all 46 basic hiragana characters and their modifications
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
あいうえお
a-i-u-e-o (the five vowels)
さくら
sakura (cherry blossom)
がっこう
gakkou (school)
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
ひらがな — Hiragana
Hiragana is the first writing system to learn. It represents every sound in Japanese and is used for native words, grammatical particles, and verb/adjective endings.
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ∅ | あ | い | う | え | お |
| k | か | き | く | け | こ |
| s | さ | し(shi) | す | せ | そ |
| t | た | ち(chi) | つ(tsu) | て | と |
| n | な | に | ぬ | ね | の |
| h | は | ひ | ふ(fu) | へ | ほ |
| m | ま | み | む | め | も |
| y | や | ゆ | よ | ||
| r | ら | り | る | れ | ろ |
| w | わ | を | |||
| n | ん | ||||
Dakuten (゛) voices consonants: か→が, さ→ざ, た→だ, は→ば. Handakuten (゜) changes h→p: は→ぱ. Yōon (combination kana): きゃ, しゅ, ちょ — a small や/ゆ/よ after an i-row kana.
Special readings: は is read 'wa' as a particle; へ is read 'e' as a particle; を is read 'o' as a particle.
あいうえお
a-i-u-e-o (the five vowels)
The vowel row — the foundation of the hiragana chart.
さくら
sakura (cherry blossom)
さ(sa) + く(ku) + ら(ra) — a familiar word using three different consonant rows.
がっこう
gakkou (school)
が(ga, voiced か) + っ(double consonant) + こ(ko) + う(long vowel) — shows dakuten, sokuon, and long vowel.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises