Hiragana and Katakana

Quick Reference Guide

LearnJapanesePod.com 1
a
ka
o e
ki
ku ke ko
sa
ta
na
ha
ma
ya
ra
wa wo
ri ru re ro
yu
yo
mi mu me mo
chi tsu te to
shi su se so
ni nu
ne no
hi fu he ho
n
` \

i
= :
7
L 7 - . 7
6 ' . I " `
^ = ` :
. = ! 7 - .
' / ' ^
= v ) . 7 .
\ e
: . .

/ `
u

LearnJapanesePod.com 2
ga
gu
o ge
ba
da
pa
ji zu de do
ji
zu ze zo
pi pu pe po
-
gi

.
!
7
6 ' . ' `
^ = ` :
' / .
za
bi bu be bo : l ^
'\
'\
\
\
!\
v\
\
\
\
7\
\
-
-
7

-
-
7

-
-
.
.
'
'
..
..
'
'
.
.
=
=

=.
=.

=
=
=
! =. !
=
'
l

'.
l.

'
l

v
.
v

.
kya
gya
kyu
gyu
kyo
gyo
sha
ja
shu
ju
sho
jo
cha
dya
chu
dyu
cho
dyo
nya nyu nyo
hya
hyu hyo
bya
byu byo
mya
myu
rya
ryu
ryo
myo

LearnJapanesePod.com 3
Hiragana Katakana
Romaji
`
a
Points to remember
Hiragana
Katakana
Kana
Furigana
- Basic syllabic writing script for Japanese
- Used for foreign and loan words in Japanese
- Refers to both Hiragana and Katakana scripts
- Small kana to aid you in reading Kanji
,

This is usually pronounced HA. However, it also pronounced WA when it is a particle.
For example: 'E - watashi wa Tanaka desu - I am Tanaka
This is used for the particle O that points to the direct object of the sentence
For example: `^\ - ringo wo tabetai - I want to eat an apple
Dont use :
This is used to elongate vowel sounds
For example: 9) - :7 - Tky
This is used for words with double consonants.
For example: :[]'6\ - motto benky shite kudasai - Please study more