W102 - Hiragana Overview

In this lesson you will be introduced to the Hiragana "alphabet". Hiragana is the first set of characters Japanese children learn. As well as the Katakana and Kanji alphabets, the Hiragana alphabet has over 1000 years old roots. When Kanji was imported from China, some characters were simplified, and used as a phonetical alphabet.

Hiragana is used mostly for grammatical constructs, such as the word の "no" (possessive form) and for modifying verbs. It is used for Japanese words that do not have Kanji, or at least none that people in general know of. I've heard that it has also become increasingly popular to use hiragana and katakana for words that has ordinary kanji, especially among young people.

Hiragana consists of 46 characters, with some additional modified sounds. It consists of the same sounds as the Katakana alphabet.

Basic Hiragana Table

This is the basic table of Hiragana.

Basic Hiragana

Modified sounds

あ a

い i

う u

え e

お o

か ka

き ki

く ku

け ke

こ ko

が ga

ぎ gi

ぐ gu

げ ge

ご go

さ sa

し shi

す su

せ se

そ so

ざ za

じ ji

ず zu

ぜ ze

ぞ zo

た ta

ち chi

つ tsu

て te

と to

だ da

ぢ ji

づ zu

で de

ど do

な na

に ni

ぬ nu

ね ne

の no

は ha

ひ hi

ふ hu/fu

へ he

ほ ho

ば ba

び bi

ぶ bu

べ be

ぼ bo

ぱ pa

ぴ pi

ぷ pu

ぺ pe

ぽ po

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

Drill hiragana in the Vocabulary Trainer using this link.

Exercise

Now, using the table above, try to read the following words.

Hiragana:

• a)　わたし
• b)　くるま
• c) 　あかい
• d) 　りんご
• e) 　やま

Answers

• a) watashi: I/me, b) kuruma: car, c) akai: red, d) ringo: apple,e) yama: mountain

 

Practise Sheet

Practice hiragana using this free Hiragana practice sheet that can be downloaded and printed out (requires Adobe PDF reader). The sheet can be freely distributed in its original form, so you may spread it to your classmates if you want to.

So print out the sheet and try to memorize the characters. It may be easier to remember if you practice by writing them down by hand. Just note that all Japanese characters has a rule saying in which order to draw the lines (strokes). It may feel hard to learn the stroke order too, but it does actually help you later to remember the character. It's also vital if you start with calligraphy.

Practise Through a Song

Check out the hiragana song, a great way to learn the hiragana "alphabet".

Good luck, and see you in next lesson, W3 - Katakana.

/Johan