Hiragana Basics

### Hiragana Basics

Hiragana is used for:

- Native Japanese words (when no kanji is used)

- Grammatical particles (e.g., は, を, で)

- Furigana (pronunciation guides for kanji)

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### The Hiragana Chart (Gojūon)

The chart is organized into rows by vowels (A, I, U, E, O) and columns by consonants.

#### Vowel Row (あ行 - A-Gyō)

| Hiragana | Romaji | Pronunciation |

|----------|--------|---------------|

| あ | a | "ah" (like "car") |

| い | i | "ee" (like "see") |

| う | u | "oo" (like "soon") |

| え | e | "eh" (like "red") |

| お | o | "oh" (like "go") |

#### K-Row (か行 - Ka-Gyō)

| か (ka) | き (ki) | く (ku) | け (ke) | こ (ko) |

|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|

#### S-Row (さ行 - Sa-Gyō)

| さ (sa) | し (shi) | す (su) | せ (se) | そ (so) |

#### T-Row (た行 - Ta-Gyō)

| た (ta) | ち (chi) | つ (tsu) | て (te) | と (to) |

#### N-Row (な行 - Na-Gyō)

| な (na) | に (ni) | ぬ (nu) | ね (ne) | の (no) |

#### H-Row (は行 - Ha-Gyō)

| は (ha) | ひ (hi) | ふ (fu) | へ (he) | ほ (ho) |

#### M-Row (ま行 - Ma-Gyō)

| ま (ma) | み (mi) | む (mu) | め (me) | も (mo) |

#### Y-Row (や行 - Ya-Gyō)

| や (ya) | ゆ (yu) | よ (yo) |

|---------|---------|---------|

#### R-Row (ら行 - Ra-Gyō)

| ら (ra) | り (ri) | る (ru) | れ (re) | ろ (ro) |

#### W-Row (わ行 - Wa-Gyō)

| わ (wa) | を (wo) only used as particle | ん (n) |

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### Dakuten (゛) and Handakuten (゜)

These marks change the sound of some hiragana:

- Dakuten (゛): Adds voice to consonants:

- か (ka) → が (ga)

- さ (sa) → ざ (za)

- た (ta) → だ (da)

- は (ha) → ば (ba)

- Handakuten (゜): Changes "h" to "p":

- は (ha) → ぱ (pa)

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### Combined Sounds (Yōon)

Small ゃ, ゅ, ょ combine with certain characters to make new sounds:

- き + ゃ = きゃ (kya)

- し + ゅ = しゅ (shu)

- に + ょ = にょ (nyo)

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### Practice Tips

1. Write them out: Practice writing each character 10 times.

2. Flashcards: Use apps like Anki or physical flashcards.

3. Mnemonics: Associate shapes with sounds (e.g., く looks like a "koo" bird’s beak).

4. Sing the chart: Memorize the order (a-i-u-e-o, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko, etc.).

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### Example Words

- あめ (ame) = rain/candy

- ねこ (neko) = cat

- さかな (sakana) = fish