あ

Hiragana 1: the vowels and the K, S, T, N rows

Five vowels, then a consonant in front of each — 25 characters.

要点The idea

Each kana in this chart is one beat: one of the five vowels a i u e o, or a consonant plus a vowel, as in ka ki ku ke ko.

	a	i	u	e	o
—	あ a	い i	う u	え e	お o
k	か ka	き ki	く ku	け ke	こ ko
s	さ sa	し shi	す su	せ se	そ so
t	た ta	ち chi	つ tsu	て te	と to
n	な na	に ni	ぬ nu	ね ne	の no

Three sounds break the pattern: し is shi, ち is chi, つ is tsu. Vowels are short and pure: a as in father, i as in machine, u as in put (lips relaxed), e as in bed, o as in go but cut short, with no w glide at the end.

sushisushiし is shi.

kuchimouthち is chi.

tsukuedeskつ is tsu: a quick t before the s, as at the end of cats.

chikatetsusubwayBoth in one word: chi and tsu.

Atsukimoon

Bsukiliked (as in “I like it”)

Only the t is different: tsuki is the moon, suki means you like something. Say the t in つ, or the moon turns into a liking.

確認Check yourself

1How do you read ねこ (cat)?
2How do you read あし (foot, leg)?
3How do you read なつ (summer)?
4How do you read ちかい (near)?

Drill hiraganaStart with the first row — new rows open as you learn them.