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.
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.
Learn more about Japanese
There are more secrets and knowledge about Japanese writing. If you want to learn more, you can find teachers here.
