LinguaThree scripts, and this is the first
Japanese is written with three scripts at once, and hiragana is the one everything else is built on. It has 46 signs. A sign is not a letter: it is a whole syllable – one consonant plus one vowel – so か is ka, never k. Only the five vowels and the final ん stand alone. This lesson takes the first half of the grid, from あ to の.
The five vowels come first
Everything in the grid is one of these five vowels, alone or after a consonant. They never change their value: あ is always the a of father, い the i of machine, う a tight u with the lips barely rounded, え the e of bed, お the o of more. Learn them in this order – every table, dictionary and keyboard in Japan uses it.
| Kana | Sound | Word |
|---|---|---|
| あ | a | あか |
| い | i | いえ |
| う | u | うえ |
| え | e | つくえ |
| お | o | おおきい |
か, さ, た, な: the same five vowels with a consonant
Each following row takes one consonant through the same five vowels: か き く け こ, さ し す せ そ, た ち つ て と, な に ぬ ね の. Three of them break the pattern and have to be learnt by ear: し is shi and not si, ち is chi and not ti, つ is tsu and not tu. Nothing else in the first half surprises you.
| Row | Kana | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| k | か き く け こ | ka ki ku ke ko |
| s | さ し す せ そ | sa shi su se so |
| t | た ち つ て と | ta chi tsu te to |
| n | な に ぬ ね の | na ni nu ne no |
おおきいさかなa big fish
つくえのしたのくつthe shoes under the desk
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| あか | red | あかいさかな a red fish |
| いえ | house, home | ちいさいいえ a small house |
| うえ | top, above, on | いえのうえのつき the moon above the house |
| した | bottom, under | つくえのした under the desk |
| つくえ | desk | おおきいつくえ a big desk |
| かさ | umbrella | おおきいかさ a big umbrella |
| さかな | fish | さかなとねこ a fish and a cat |
| ねこ | cat | ちいさいねこ a small cat |
| つき | moon | あきのつき the autumn moon |
| あき | autumn | あきとなつ autumn and summer |
| なつ | summer | あついなつ a hot summer |
| くつ | shoes | あかいくつ red shoes |
Exercises
This lesson has 11 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 4
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 2
- translate the sentence: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which kana is read *ka*?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.