| あ a | い i | う u | え e | お o |
| か ka | き ki | く ku | け ke | こ ko |
| さ sa | し shi | す su | せ se | そ so |
| た ta | ち chi | つ tsu | て te | と to |
| な na | に ni | ぬ nu | ね ne | の no |
| は ha | ひ hi | ふ fu | へ he | ほ ho |
| ま ma | み mi | む mu | め me | も mo |
| や ya | ゆ yu | よ yo |
||
| ら ra | り ri | る ru | れ re | ろ ro |
| わ wa | を wo |
|||
| ん n |
Hiragana Chart
ひらがな
New For you! Test your Hiragana skills in Dante's Challenge!
The chart you see on the right, called Hiragana, is one of the two syllabaries used in Japanese. There isn't necessarily a certain way to "learn" the chart, but each character is usually memorized in an order from left-to-right, top-to-bottom for a vertical chart (as shown on the right), or top-to-bottom, right-to-left for a horizontal chart (as shown in this handy printable chart!), starting with "あ" .
Vowel Similarities
If you take a look at the very top row, you may notice that these characters represent 5 vowels — A, I, U, E, O — the same vowels seen in the English alphabet. You may also notice that these vowels aren't in the "A, E, I, O, U" order that you may be very used to. When you begin learning/memorizing these Hiragana characters, you may be tempted to memorize them in the A, E, I, O, U (English) order, but it is highly suggested you learn them as they are ordered in the chart — in the Japanese A, I, U, E, O order. It will make remembering the entire chart much easier!
Vowel Pronunciation
Pronouncing the A, I, U, E, O vowels in Japanese is a little different than pronouncing them in English:
- あ - a - is pronounced like "AH"
- い - i - is pronounced like "EE"
- う - u - is pronounced like "OO"
- え - e - is pronounced like "EH"
- お - o - is pronounced like "OH"
More examples:
- か - ka - is pronounced like "KAH"
- に - ni - is pronounced like "NEE"
- す - su - is pronounced like "SOO"
- て - te - is pronounced like "TEH"
- も - mo - is pronounced like "MOH"
| が ga | ぎ gi | ぐ gu | げ ge | ご go |
| ざ za | じ ji | ず zu | ぜ ze | ぞ zo |
| だ da | ぢ ji | づ zu | で de | ど do |
| ば ba | び bi | ぶ bu | べ be | ぼ bo |
| ぱ pa | ぴ pi | ぷ pu | ぺ pe | ぽ po |
Those ゛ and ゜ marks
What do they mean??? Well I'm glad you asked. These little guys turn voiceless consonants (sounds you do not need your voice for, such as S, T, CH, H, K) into voiced consonants. In other words, they slightly change the way the Hiragana is sounded out.
For example when using ゛(dakuten mark):
- ざ - za - is pronounced like "ZAH"
- び - bi - is pronounced like "BEE"
- ぐ - gu - is pronounced like "GOO"
When using ゜(handakuten mark):
- ぱ - pa - is pronounced like "PAH"
- ぴ - pi - is pronounced like "PEE"
- ぷ - pu - is pronounced like "POO"
Study the second chart above and get to know the consonants that use the dakuten and handakuten marks. Lucky for you, only the consonants that begin with "H" use the ゜ handakuten mark!
| きゃ kya | きゅ kyu | きょ kyo |
| しゃ sha | しゅ shu | しょ sho |
| ちゃ cha | ちゅ chu | ちょ cho |
| にゃ nya | にゅ nyu | にょ nyo |
| ひゃ hya | ひゅ hyu | ひょ hyo |
| みゃ mya | みゅ myu | みょ myo |
| りゃ rya | りゅ ryu | りょ ryo |
| with dakuten: | ||
| ぎゃ gya | ぎゅ gyu | ぎょ gyo |
| じゃ ja | じゅ ju | じょ jo |
| ぢゃ ja | ぢゅ ju | ぢょ jo |
| びゃ bya | びゅ byu | びょ byo |
| with handakuten: | ||
| ぴゃ pya | ぴゅ pyu | ぴょ pyo |
Extra Syllables
Now don't be afraid of these additional syllables!
Before jumping right in, you might have noticed we've only gone over a limited number of syllables. So what about the syllables like "SHO" or "CHA" or "JU"?? That's a good question!
The idea behind these "extra" syllables should be pretty easy to grasp. So easy that you might not really need to study this third chart at all. As long as you memorize all the characters from the first two charts on this page, this third chart should be a cinch.
Basically what's happening here is two syllables are being combined to make one syllable. It could almost sound like the two syllables are being said or read so fast that they sound like one regular syllable. As you can see in the chart, anytime a little Hiragana follows a bigger Hiragana, it is being combined together with that bigger Hiragana.
So to get "SHO", you would combine し (SHI) and a little ょ (YO).
To get "CHA", you would combine ち (CHI) and a little ゃ (YA).
To get "JU", you would combine じ (JI) and a little ゅ (YU).
Make sense? Simple as that! If you follow this general rule when it comes to little Hiraganas, you should be a-okay. Like I said, you may not even need to bother trying to remember this third chart. But don't relax just yet! We have one last thing to go over before considering yourself a Hiragana black belt master...
The little っ
The idea of "combining characters" applies here as well. Whenever you see a little っ (TSU) right before a bigger Hiragana (which is usually a consonant), it means you need to sort of stretch that sound out a tad longer when you start saying it.
For example:
- った - is pronounced like "TTAH"
- っぴ - is pronounced like "PPEE"
- っしゅ - is pronounced like "SSHOO"
Try saying "TSU". Notice how you sort of hold your tongue as if to say "T" (without saying it), then continue to say "SU"? Now apply that same hold effect to whatever character that follows the little っ. Got it? Good! You're golden!
Alright! You made it through your first Japanese lesson! Awesome!!! It was quite a bit to take in, but virtually everything you need to know about how to read Hiragana is on this page!
Once you've memorized all 46 Hiragana, understood how the dakuten and handakuten work, and learned how little Hiraganas work, you're ready for Katakana!