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| あ a |
い i |
う u |
え e |
お o |
|
| K | か ka |
き ki |
く ku |
け ke |
こ ko |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | が ga |
ぎ gi |
ぐ gu |
げ ge |
ご go |
| S | さ sa |
し shi |
す su |
せ se |
そ so |
| Z | ざ za |
じ ji |
ず zu |
ぜ ze |
ぞ zo |
| T | た ta |
ち chi |
つ tsu |
て te |
と to |
| D | だ da |
ぢ ji |
づ zu |
で de |
ど do |
| N | な na |
に ni |
ぬ nu |
ね ne |
の no |
| H | は ha |
ひ hi |
ふ fu |
へ he |
ほ ho |
| B | ば ba |
び bi |
ぶ bu |
べ be |
ぼ bo |
| P | ぱ pa |
ぴ pi |
ぷ pu |
ぺ pe |
ぽ po |
| M | ま ma |
み mi |
む mu |
め me |
も mo |
| Y | や ya |
ゆ yu |
よ yo |
||
| R | ら ra |
り ri |
る ru |
れ re |
ろ ro |
| W | わ wa |
を wo |
| ん n |
Hiragana is the Japanese alphabet. The top row of the chart are vowels.
| あ a (ahh) |
い i (ee) |
う o (oo) |
え e (eh) |
お o (oh) |
The letters on the left side are consonants. The hiragana characters are made up of a consonant as the first letter and the corresponding vowel as the second letter. So for example, the か character next to the letter K corresponds to the vowel A and is pronounced ka.
The only exception is the singular consonant, ん, which is an n.
Notice that some of the consonants are grouped together and the hiragana characters are the same except for adding double dots ( ゛) or a circle ( ゜) to the upper right hand corner. These characters are called Dakuon 濁音 and Handakuon 半濁音 respectively and represent additional hiragana consonants.
When a small tsu character つ, called sokuon, is added it means the following consonant forms a double consonant with the following character. For example, おと is oto which means "sound." Adding a small tsu character おっとis otto which means "husband."
For example, good afternoon is Konnichiwa spelled こんにちは.
| こ Ko |
ん n |
に ni |
ち chi |
は wa |
| ゃ ya |
ゅ yu |
ょ yo |
|
| K | きゃ kya |
きゅ kyu |
きょ kyo |
|---|---|---|---|
| G | ぎゃ gya |
ぎゅ gyu |
ぎょ gyo |
| S | しゃ sha |
しゅ shu |
しょ sho |
| Z | じゃ ja |
じゅ ju |
じょ jo |
| T | ちゃ cha |
ちゅ chu |
ちょ cho |
| N | にゃ nya |
にゅ nyu |
にょ nyo |
| H | ひゃ hya |
ひゅ hyu |
ひょ hyo |
| B | びゃ bya |
びゅ byu |
びょ byo |
| P | ぴゃ pya |
ぴゅ pyu |
ぴょ pyo |
| M | みゃ mya |
みゅ myu |
みょ myo |
| R | りゃ rya |
りゅ ryu |
りょ ryo |
Another group of additional Japanese hiragana called 拗音 (youon) is formed by adding smaller version of ya, yu or yo (ゃ, ゅ or ょ) to hiragana ending in vowel i.
| 1 | 日 | nichi,jitsu ニチ, ジツ |
hi, -bi, -ka ひ, -び, -か |
day, sun, Japan, counter for days |
| 2 | 一 | ichi イチ |
hito(tsu) ひと(つ) |
one |
| 3 | 国 | koku コク |
kuni くに |
country |
| 4 | 会 | kai カイ |
a(u) あ(う) |
meeting; meet |
| 5 | 人 | jin, nin ジン、 ニン |
hito ひと |
person |
| 6 | 年 | nen ネン |
toshi とし |
year, counter for years |
| 7 | 大 | dai, tai ダイ、 タイ |
oo(kii) おお(きい) |
large, big |
| 8 | 十 | juu ジュウ |
tou, to とお、 と |
ten, 10 |
| 9 | 二 | ni, ji ニ、 ジ |
futa(tsu) ふた(つ) |
two, 2 |
| 10 | 本 | hon ホン |
moto もと |
book, present, true, counter for long cylindrical things | 11 | 中 | chuu チュウ |
naka, uchi, ataru なか、 うち、 あた(る |
in, inside, middle, mean, center | 12 | 長 | chou チョウ |
naga(i), osa なが(い)、 おさ |
long, leader, superior, senior | 13 | 出 | Shutsu, sui シュツ、 スイ |
de(ru), da(su), i(deru) で(る)、 だ(す)、 い(でる) |
exit, leave, go out | 14 | 三 | san サン |
mi(tsu) み(つ) |
three, 3 | 15 | 同 | dou ドウ |
onaji おな(じ) |
same, equal, agree | 16 | 時 | ji ジ |
toki, doki とき、 -どき |
time, hour | 17 | 政 | sei セイ |
matsurigoto まつりごと |
politics, government | 18 | 事 | ji ジ |
koto こと |
matter, thing, fact, business, reason, possibly | 19 | 自 | ji, shi ジ、 シ |
mizuka(ra) みずか(ら) |
oneself | 20 | 行 | kou, gyou, an コウ、 ギョウ、 アン |
i(ku), yu(ku), okona(u) い(く)、 ゆ(く)、 おこな(う) |
going, journey, carry out, line, row |
dave@worldsworstwriter.org 2025-04-12