Hiragana/katakana
- There are 46 clear sounds in Japanese language.
- Each sound is corresponding to one hiragana/katakana
- Plus, there are 20 dull sounds and 5 half-dull sounds
- Dull sounds have two dots, and half-dull sounds have a small circle on top right in writing.
You need to learn hiragana/katakana when starting Japanese language.
Here are tables for 71 hiragana/ katakana you need to know.
Contents
46 clear sounds
5 vowels
There are five vowels in Japanese language: a, i, u, e, and o.
These vowels are used alone or make other sounds combined with consonants.
Five vowels themselves have characters as below.
This table shows hiragana, katakana and romaji.
a | i | u | e | o | |
あ ア a | い イ i | う ウ u | え エ e | お オ o |
5 vowels x 9 consonants
There are 9 consonants for clear sounds: k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w.
These consonants make sounds combined with a vowel.
For example, consonant k and five vowels make ka, ki, ku, ke, ko.
There is only one exception; ん n. ん has no vowel, only consonant.
a | i | u | e | o | |
k | か カ ka | き キ ki | く ク ku | け ケ ke | こ コ ko |
s | さ サ sa | し シ shi | す ス su | せ セ se | そ ソ so |
t | た タ ta | ち チ chi | つ ツ tsu | て テ te | と ト to |
n | な ナ na | に ニ ni | ぬ ヌ nu | ね ネ ne | の ノ no |
h | は ハ ha | ひ ヒ hi | ふ フ fu | へ ヘ he | ほ ホ ho |
m | ま マ ma | み ミ mi | む ム mu | め メ me | も モ mo |
y | や ヤ ya | (い イ i) | ゆ ユ yu | (え エ e) | よ ヨ yo |
r | ら ラ ra | り リ ri | る ル ru | れ レ re | ろ ロ ro |
w | わ ワ wa | (い イ i) | (う ウ u) | (え エ e) | を ヲ wo |
ん ン n |
Hiragana for dull sounds are written with two dots on the top right.
This is how to write correctly.
![](https://japadia.site/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/濁音のてんてん.png)
20 dull sounds
There are 4 consonants for dull sounds: g, z, d, and b.
Hiragana for dull sounds are written with two dots on the top right.
a | i | u | e | o | |
g | が ガ ga | ぎ ギ gi | ぐ グ gu | げ ゲ ge | ご ゴ go |
z | ざ ザ sa | じ ジ ji | ず ズ zu | ぜ ゼ ze | ぞ ゾ zo |
d | だ ダ ta | ぢ ヂ ji | づ ヅ tsu | で デ de | ど ド do |
b | ば バ ba | び ビ bi | ぶ ブ bu | べ ベ be | ぼ ボ bo |
5 half-dull sounds
There is 1 consonant for half-dull sounds: p.
a | i | u | e | o | |
p | ぱ パ pa | ぴ ピ pi | ぷ プ pu | ぺ ペ pe | ぽ ポ po |
Hiragana for half-dull sounds are written with a small circle on the top right.
This is how to write correctly.
![](https://japadia.site/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/半濁音のまる.png)
Learn more about Japanese
There are more secrets and knowledge about Japanese writing. If you want to learn more, you can find teachers here.