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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 45 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
si

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.

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

/Johan

Comments (10)

Written by KiraLHavok, on 21-10-2008 18:43
the reason the two have the same spoken syllables is because you use Hiragana for japanese words with no kanji and katakana for words taken from the western languages.

Written by OrangeBlueZ, on 20-10-2008 20:46
I find it strange that the hiragana has the same spoken syllables as the katakana. I guess it does make it easier to learn though...

Stroke orders and directions
Written by soweet, on 23-09-2008 03:29
I think it is important to also know HOW to draw the character, otherwise you look unskilled to the Japanese. That's why I like to use charts which include this, such as http://happyfu-fu.com/hiroshiandsakura/ls_hiragana_stroke.html

Can't complain
Written by Jack77, on 22-08-2008 07:30
Its free and someone has gone to a lot of effort.
ほんとにありがと

Jack

Hiragana chart
Written by nedherla, on 04-08-2008 09:55
I think these letters are small. You can read it, but you can't write it. I lear the Hiragana from an other website, because that's bigger than. But here I find excercises!!! :grin

learning hiragana
Written by hihochu, on 07-06-2008 05:22
Hi there, I find the lessons very helpful but do you think we could have tests breaking down the alphabets into smaller portions ie; ka, ki, ku, ke ko as one test adding the next line into the test when we have mastered the last one? its a bit hard for us older people to learn the whole lot all at once

using present,past,and future tense
Written by johan, on 25-05-2008 10:59
Please look at the Language Reference to learn more about verbs and future tense etc.
http://www.studyjapanese.org/content/view/46/52/

using present,past,and furture tense,
Written by anne, on 19-05-2008 07:09
pls.help us on how to use the japanese languanges,(nihongo)how to use on a past tense,present tense,and in future perfect tense all in formal form pls..

Bigger size
Written by johan, on 02-05-2008 06:58
Thanks for you comment. I have now increased the size. You may also want to print out the practise sheet.

small text
Written by Strawberry, on 02-05-2008 03:57
Can the alphabet be shown in a bigger size?