LinguaWhat the whole syllabary looks like now
Forty-six basic signs, twenty-five more made with the dakuten, five with the small circle, and thirty-three fused pairs written with a small ゃ ゅ ょ. That is the whole of hiragana, and nothing else will be added to it. Every one of those signs is a syllable of exactly one beat – except the small っ, which is a beat of silence, and the extra vowel that lengthens the syllable before it.
| Made with | How many | Example |
|---|---|---|
| plain signs | 46 | か さ た な |
| dakuten | 25 | が ざ だ ば |
| handakuten | 5 | ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ |
| small ゃ ゅ ょ | 33 | きゃ しゅ ちょ |
The three signs that change their reading
は is ha inside a word and wa when it marks the topic. へ is he inside a word and e when it points to a destination. を exists only as the object marker and is always read o. These three are the first grammar you meet, and you will meet them in every sentence from the next unit on.
わたしはやまがすきですI like mountains.
びょういんへいきますI am going to the hospital.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ねこ | cat | ねこはさかながすきです Cats like fish. |
| やま | mountain | ゆきのやま a snowy mountain |
| みず | water | みずをのみます I drink water. |
| がっこう | school | がっこうへいきます I go to school. |
| せんせい | teacher | せんせいのしゃしん a photograph of the teacher |
| ほん | book | ほんをよみます I read a book. |
| きって | postage stamp | きってとえんぴつ a stamp and a pencil |
| りんご | apple | りんごをたべます I eat an apple. |
| でんわ | telephone | でんわのばんごう a telephone number |
| きょう | today | きょうのてんき today's weather |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- 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 of these is read *wa* in the word written here?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.