Hiragana: the basic 46
The first script to master. The 46 basic characters (gojūon), how the rows and columns work, stroke-order tips, the ten pairs learners mix up, and 20 words to read.
By Nihongo PathUpdated
What hiragana is for
Hiragana is used for native Japanese words, grammatical endings (okurigana), particles, and furigana (reading aids over kanji). It is the first script to master.
Target: read every character in under one second and write all of them from memory within three to four days. Read the chart left to right (a, i, u, e, o); each row shares a consonant.
The 46 basic characters (五十音 gojūon)
Irregular romaji
Particle pronunciation rules
Stroke-order tips
General rules that cover almost every character
- Top before bottom. Whatever is highest is written first (あ: the short horizontal stroke, then the vertical, then the loop).
- Left before right. When strokes are side by side, write the left one first (い: left curve, then right dot; か: main hook first, then the short diagonal, then the right dot).
- Horizontal before vertical when they cross (き: two horizontals, then the vertical curve, then the bottom stroke. さ: horizontal, then the vertical curve, then the bottom).
- Enclosing or main frame first, then what sits inside or attached (ほ: left vertical first, then the two horizontals and the loop on the right. は: same idea).
- Vertical-through-centre strokes last (ま: the horizontals first, then the vertical that passes through. も is the exception: the vertical hook is written first, then the two horizontals).
- Loops are drawn in one continuous motion (あ, お, す, な, ぬ, ね, は, ほ, ま, む, よ, る). Never lift the pen inside a loop.
- Dots and dakuten / handakuten marks are written last, after the main body, top-left to bottom-right.
- Small kana (ゃ ゅ ょ っ) follow the same order as their full-size versions, just smaller and placed in the lower-right quadrant.
Stroke counts
| Strokes | Characters |
|---|---|
| 1 | く, し, そ, つ, て, の, ひ, へ, る, ろ, ん |
| 2 | い, う, え, こ, す, ち, と, ぬ, ね, み, め, ゆ, よ, ら, り, れ, わ |
| 3 | あ, お, か, け, さ, せ, に, は, ま, む, も, や, を |
| 4 | き, た, な, ふ, ほ |
Printed vs handwritten
Ten commonly confused pairs
How to tell them apart
| Pair | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| さ / き | き has TWO horizontal strokes on top; さ has ONE. Think: き (ki) = key with 2 teeth. |
| ぬ / め | ぬ (nu) ends with a small loop at the bottom-right: "nu has a noodle knot". め (me) has no loop. |
| わ / ね / れ | All start with a vertical stroke. わ (wa) ends in a wide open curve; ね (ne) ends with a loop (like a knot on a net); れ (re) ends by flicking outward to the right without a loop. |
| は / ほ | ほ (ho) has an extra horizontal line on top of the right side; は (ha) has one horizontal only. |
| る / ろ | る (ru) has a loop at the bottom; ろ (ro) does not: "ru rolls up". |
| あ / お | お (o) has a separate dot at the top right; あ (a) does not. あ is more angular with a bigger loop. |
| い / り | い (i) has two short, separated, roughly equal strokes; り (ri) has a long right stroke sweeping down. |
| こ / に | に (ni) has a vertical stroke on the left; こ (ko) is just the two horizontals. |
| ち / ら | ち (chi) has a horizontal cross-bar and its curve opens to the left; ら (ra) starts with a short dot-like stroke and its curve opens to the right. |
| す / む | Both have a loop on a vertical stroke. す (su) has a single horizontal and a simple loop; む (mu) has a loop plus a small extra stroke on the right. |
Bonus confusions
Practice words
Read aloud, cover the romaji, then cover the hiragana and write it from the meaning. Most of these words are normally written with kanji in real texts, but at this stage you read and write them in hiragana.
20 words using the basic 46
あさ
asa
morning
いぬ
inu
dog
ねこ
neko
cat
うみ
umi
sea
やま
yama
mountain
かわ
kawa
river
そら
sora
sky
あめ
ame
rain
ゆき
yuki
snow
はな
hana
flower; nose
き
ki
tree
さかな
sakana
fish
にく
niku
meat
くるま
kuruma
car
ひと
hito
person
なまえ
namae
name
ほん
hon
book
つくえ
tsukue
desk
いす
isu
chair
へや
heya
room
Quick check
How is ほ read?