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A GUIDE TO HIRAGANA
However unlike Mandarin, Japanese Kanji cannot be used alone. Two additional, syllable-based scripts are used for words without corresponding Kanji and grammatical patterns.
Due to this, Kanji along with Hiragana and Katakana make the Japanese alphabet.
LEARNING HIRAGANA || A SERIES
Let’s start with the very first series of syllable:
| Hiragana | Romanisation |
|---|---|
| あ | a |
| い | i |
| う | u |
| え | e |
| お | o |
View Word Examples:
| Hiragana | Romanisation | English |
|---|---|---|
| あい | a-i | Love |
| あおい | aoi | Blue |
| うえ | ue | Above |
| いう | iu | To speak |
| あう | a-u | To meet |
LEARNING HIRAGANA || KA SERIES
The second series of the Hiragana Alphabet is Ka:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION |
|---|---|
| か | ka |
| き | ki |
| く | ku |
| け | ke |
| こ | ko |
View Word Examples:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| かく | khaku | To write |
| きく | khiku | To hear |
| け | ke | Fur |
| こ | ko | Child |
| あかい | akai | Red |
NOTE || when a word starts with ‘か’ or ‘き’ it is pronounced as ‘kha’ or ‘khi’ instead of ‘ka’ or ‘ki’ respectively.
LEARNING HIRAGANA || SA SERIES
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION |
|---|---|
| さ | sa |
| し | shi |
| す | su |
| せ | se |
| そ | so |
View Word Examples:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| すし | sushi | Japanese Sushi |
| あさ | asa | Morning |
| あせ | ase | Sweat |
| そこ | soko | There |
LEARNING HIRAGANA || TA SERIES
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION |
|---|---|
| た | ta |
| ち | chi |
| つ | tsu |
| て | te |
| と | to |
View Word Examples:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| たつ | tatsu | To stand |
| いち | ichi | One |
| いつ | itsu | When |
| て | te | Hand |
| とおい | tōi | Far, distant |
LEARNING HIRAGANA || NA SERIES
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION |
|---|---|
| な | na |
| に | ni |
| ぬ | nu |
| ね | ne |
| の | no |
View Word Examples:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| なに | nani | What |
| ぬの | nuno | Cloth |
| ねこ | neko | Cat |
LEARNING HIRAGANA || HA SERIES
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION |
|---|---|
| は | ha |
| ひ | hi |
| ふ | fu |
| へ | he |
| ほ | ho |
View Word Examples:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| はな | hana | Flower |
| ひと | hito | Person |
| へた | heta | Unskilful |
| ほか | hoka | Other |
LEARNING HIRAGANA || MA SERIES
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION |
|---|---|
| ま | ma |
| み | mi |
| む | mu |
| め | me |
| も | mo |
View More Examples:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| いま | ima | Now |
| みみ | mimi | Ear |
| むかし | mukashi | Long ago |
| め | me | Eyes |
| もつ | motsu | To hold |
LEARNING HIRAGANA || YA SERIES
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION |
|---|---|
| や | ya |
| ゆ | yu |
| よ | yo |
View Word Examples:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| やま | yama | Mountain |
| よむ | yomu | To read |
| ゆき | yuki | Snow |
LEARNING HIRAGANA || RA SERIES
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION |
|---|---|
| ら | ra |
| り | ri |
| る | ru |
| れ | re |
| ろ | ro |
View Word Examples:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| あらう | arau | To wash |
| ある | aru | To exist |
| れい | rei | Example |
| りか | rika | Science |
THE LAST 3 SYLLABLES
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION |
|---|---|
| わ | wa |
| を | wo |
| ん | nn |
View Word Examples:
| HIRAGANA | ROMANISATION | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| わたし | watashi | I, Me |
| えをかく | ewokaku | To draw a picture |
| にほん | nihon | Japan |
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FAQs
How many Hiragana are there?
There are 46 Hiragana on the Hiragana table to learn, each representing a different sound.
What are the 3 Japanese alphabets?
Japanese has 3 alphabets which each serve different purposes.
They are:
Hiragana
Katakana
Kanji
You can find out more about the 3 Alphabets of Japanese here.
Are Kanji and Chinese characters the same?
Japanese Kanji indeed come from Chinese characters.
Be careful though!
Not only do they not have the same pronunciation, they can also hold different meanings.
Visit this article we wrote about Kanji and Hanzi you shouldn’t confuse!
Where to learn Hiragana?
You can learn Hiragana in our article right here!
Don’t forget to also check out our Top 7 Tips to Learn Hiragana.
The best way to learn the Japanese alphabets, including Hiragana, would be with a native teacher.
Do you offer Japanese classes?
Yes we do!
Check out our online Japanese classes here.
All lessons are taught by professional native teachers.