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Hiragana is the first of the three Japanese alphabets to learn. Hiragana is a phonetic alphabet, where each
character represents a syllable. Hiragana is generally the first of the alphabets used, and is used for many
purposes. Until one broadens their knowledge of kanji, they can use hiragana in place of the kanji they don’t
know. Additionally, hiragana is used as particles, and is also used as accompanying characters to verbs, called
okurigana. There are also some words that do not have kanji and are thus written in hiragana alone.
When practicing writing Hiragana by hand, the important thing to remember is that the stroke order and
direction of the strokes matter. There, I underlined, italicized, bolded, and highlighted it to boot. Trust me,
you’ll eventually find out why when you read other people’s hasty notes that are nothing more than chicken
scrawls. The only thing that will help you is that everybody writes in the same order and so the “flow” of the
characters is fairly consistent. I strongly recommend that you pay close attention to stroke order from the
beginning starting with Hiragana to avoid falling into bad habits. While there are many tools online that aim to
help you learn Hiragana, the best way to learn how to write it is the old fashioned way: a piece of paper and
pen/pencil. Below are handy PDFs for Hiragana writing practice.
Modified Syllables: Consonant combined with ‘ya,’ ‘yu,’ or ‘yo’
‘p-‘ ‘b-‘ ‘j-’ ‘g-‘ ‘r-‘ ‘m-‘ ‘h-‘ ‘n-‘ ‘ch-‘ ‘sh-‘ ‘k-‘
ぴゃ びゃ じゃ ぎゃ りゃ ひゃ にゃ ちゃ しゃ きゃ
みゃ
‘-ya’
‘mya’
‘pya’ ‘bya’ ‘jya’ ‘gya’ ‘rya’ ‘hya’ ‘nya’ ‘cha’ ‘sha’ ‘kya’
ぴゅ びゅ じゅ ぎゅ りゅ ひゅ にゅ ちゅ しゅ きゅ
みゅ
‘-yu’
‘myu’
‘pyu’ ‘byu’ ‘jyu’ ‘gyu’ ‘ryu’ ‘hyu’ ‘nyu’ ‘chu’ ‘shu’ ‘kyu’
ぴょ びょ じょ ぎょ りょ ひょ にょ ちょ しょ きょ
みょ
‘-yo’
‘myo’
‘pyo’ ‘byo’ ‘jyo’ ‘gyo’ ‘ryo’ ‘hyo’ ‘nyo’ ‘cho’ ‘sho’ ‘kyo’
Long Vowels
oo ee uu ii aa
おお ええ うう いい ああ
Double Consonants: kk, pp, tt, etc. are expressed in hiragana as a small "tsu" (っ) before the kana. For
example, chotto meaning "a little" is written as ちょっと.
Katakana
Katakana is the second phonetic Japanese alphabet. Katakana, unlike hiragana is written with straight lines.
Generally, katakana is used for writing words of foreign origin.
‘n’ ‘w-’ ‘r-’ ‘y-‘ ‘m-‘ ‘h-‘ ‘n-‘ ‘t-‘ ‘s-‘ ‘k-‘
ア
ンワ ラ ヤ マ ハ ナ タ サ カ
‘a’
‘n’ ‘wa’ ‘ra’ ‘ya’ ‘ma’ ‘ha’ ‘na’ ‘ta’ ‘sa’ ‘ka’
‘a’
イ
リ ミ ヒ ニ チ シ キ
‘i’
‘ri’ ‘mi’ ‘hi’ ‘ni’ ‘chi’ ‘shi’ ‘ki’
‘i’
ウ
ル ユ ム フ ヌ ツ ス ク
‘u’
‘ru’ ‘yu’ ‘mu’l ‘fu’ ‘nu’ ‘tsu’ ‘su’ ‘ku’
‘u’
エ
レ メ ヘ ネ テ セ ケ
‘e’
‘re’ ‘me’ ‘he’ ‘ne’ ‘te’ ‘se’ ‘ke’
‘e’
オ
ヲ ロ ヨ モ ホ ノ ト ソ コ
‘o’
‘wo’ ‘ro’ ‘yo’ ‘mo’ ‘ho’ ‘no’ ‘to’ ‘so’ ‘ko’
‘o’
パ バ ダ ザ ガ
‘-a’
‘pa’ ‘ba’ ‘da’ ‘za’ ‘ga’
ピ ビ ヂ ジ ギ
‘-i’
‘pi’ ‘bi’ ‘ji’ ‘ji’ ‘gi’
プ ブ ヅ ズ グ
‘-u’
‘pu’ ‘bu’ ‘dzu’ ‘zu’ ‘gu’
ペ ベ デ ゼ ゲ
‘-e’
‘pe’ ‘be’ ‘de’ ‘ze’ ‘ge’
ポ ボ ド ゾ ゴ
‘-o’
‘po’ ‘bo’ ‘do’ ‘zo’ ‘go’
‘p-‘ ‘b-‘ ‘j-’ ‘g-‘ ‘r-‘ ‘m-‘ ‘h-‘ ‘n-‘ ‘ch-‘ ‘sh-‘ ‘k-‘
ピャ ビャ ジャ ギャ リャ ニャ にゃ チャ シャ キャ
ミャ
‘-ya’
‘mya’
‘pya’ ‘bya’ ‘jya’ ‘gya’ ‘rya’ ‘hya’ ‘nya’ ‘cha’ ‘sha’ ‘kya’
ピュ ビュ ジュ ギュ リュ ヒュ ニュ チュ シュ キュ
ミュ
‘-yu’
‘myu’
‘pyu’ ‘byu’ ‘jyu’ ‘gyu’ ‘ryu’ ‘hyu’ ‘nyu’ ‘chu’ ‘shu’ ‘kyu’
ピョ ビョ ジョ ギョ リョ ヒョ ニョ チョ ショ キョ
ミョ
‘-yo’
‘myo’
‘pyo’ ‘byo’ ‘jyo’ ‘gyo’ ‘ryo’ ‘hyo’ ‘nyo’ ‘cho’ ‘sho’ ‘kyo’
Long Vowels
A long vowel that follows a consonant can be represented with a dash symbol after the kana. For example koohii, which is
“coffee” in Japanese, would be written as コーヒー
oo ee uu ii aa
オー エー ウー イー アー
Double Consonants: kk, pp, tt, etc. are expressed in katakana as a small “tsu” (ッ) before the kana For example,
shotto, meaning “shot” is written as ショット.
There are small versions of “ア,” “イ,” “ウ,” “エ,” and “オ” that are “ァ,” “ィ,” “ゥ,” “ェ,” and “ォ.” These
are used in conjunction with some other characters to create characters for sounds that were not originally
covered by the original set of hiragana/katakana.
“ti” and “tu” sounds now commonly written as “ティ,” and “トゥ.”
“di” and “du” sounds, are now commonly written as “ディ,” and “ドゥ.”
Combining the small “ァ,” “ィ,” “ゥ,” “ェ,” and “ォ” with “フ,” gives character combinations “ファ,” “フィ,”
“フェ,” and “フォ” for “fa,” “fi,” “fe,” and “fo” respectively.
“wi,” “we,” and “wo” are written as “ウィ,” “ウェ,” and “ウォ.”
As the “v-“sound did not originally exist, the “ヴ” character was created to provide that sound. Now, “va,” “vi,”
“vu,” “ve,” and “vo” can be written as “ヴァ,” “ヴィ,” “ヴ,” “ヴェ,” and “ヴォ” respectively.
For “je,” “she,” and “che,” “ジェ,” “シェ,” and “チェ”are used for them respectively.
Other Alphabets
Kanji: Kanji are the characters that were imported from China. Each kanji character generally has two readings
– an onnyomi or 音読み (おんよみ), which is the original Chinese reading of the character, and the kunnyomi
or 訓読み (くんよみ), which is the Japanese adaptation of the character. Something to note is that characters
can have more than one 音読み or 訓読み or both.
Romaji: Romaji is the writing of Japanese phonetic characters as Roman letters. Sometimes it helps with
pronunciation of words when learning Japanese.
Punctuation
The symbols for punctuation look slightly different in Japanese compared to English
English . , “ ”
Japanese 。 、 「
Expression's
Expression Romaji Definition
DOUMO.ARIGATOU
1 どうも・ありがとうございました。 Thank you very much
GOZAIMASHITA.
いただきます。
2 ITADAKI MASU. (said before eating a meal)
いらっしゃい・ませ。
3 IRASSHAI MASE Welcome (to a store)
(では) おげんきで。
4 (DEWA)OGENKIDE (when parting) Stay healthy
おねがいします。
5 ONEGAISHIMASU Please (do for me)
おはようございます。
6 OHAYOU GOZAIMASU Good morning (very polite)
おやすみなさい。
7 OYASUMI NASAI Good night (very polite)
Thank you for the meal
8 GOCHISOU SAMA DESHITA ごちそうさま・でした
(very polite)
こちらこそ。
9 KOCHIRA KOSO It is I who should say so
ごめんください。
10 GOMEN KUDASAI May I come in
ごめんなさい。
11 GOMEN NASAI Sorry
こんにちは。
12 KON NICHI WA Hello (good day)
こんばんは。
13 KONBAN WA Good Evening
さよなら|さようなら。
14 SAYONARA/SAYOUNARA Farewell
しつれいしました。
15 SHITSUREI SHIMASHITA Sorry for my rudeness
しつれいします。
16 SHITSU REI SHIMASU Sorry for my rudeness
すみません。
17 SUMIMASEN Sorry
では、また。
18 DEWA , MATA Ok, I'll see you later
(いいえ) どういたしまして。
19 (IIE) DOU ITASHI MASHITE (Not at all) you're welcome
はじめまして。
20 HAJIME MASHITE Nice to meet you
(どうぞ) よろしく。
21 (DOUZO) YOROSHIKU Pleased to meet you
naned
Adjectives for Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level N5
(1) i-adjectives
ひろ
広い wide, spacious
Level 1
おお
大 きい big
Level 3
ちい たか
小 さい small 高い high, tall
たか
高い expensive ひくい low
やすい なが
安い cheap 長い long
あたら
新 しい new, fresh おもい heavy
ふる
古い old かるい light
ちか
近い near, close かわいい cute, pretty
おお
せまい narrow 多い many, much
いたい painful
あぶない dangerous
うるさい noisy
たのしい pleasant
ほしい want
Others
あおい blue
あか
赤い red
きいろい yellow
くろい black
しろ
白い white
ちゃいろい brown
【Notes】
おお
① 大 きな + Noun
ちい
② 小 さな + Noun
おお ちい
「 大 きな」、「 小 さな」は na-adj.ではありま
せん。
とき めい まえ おお
時どき、 名 し(noun)の 前 で、「 大 きい+
おお
Noun」は「 大 きな+ Noun」に なります。
(2) na-adjectives
Level 1 Others
いっ
きれい beautiful, clean 一しょうけんめい hard, desperately
ゆうめい
有名 famous きけん dangerous, risky
like(preference),
すき favorite しんぱい worry, concern
suitable,
にぎやか lively てきとう appropriate
き
げん気 well, healthy ねっしん enthusiastic
だい
大 じょうぶ okay まっすぐ straight
たい
大 へん hard りっぱ excellent, magnificent
らく easy, comfortable
いや nasty, disgusting
たい
大 せつ important
じょう ず
上手 skillful
へ た
下手 unskillful
【Notes】
① おなじ: same
か
ex. おなじペンを 買いました。
これと これは おなじです。
20 あたま 頭 n head
22 あちら n there,yonder,that
23 あつい 暑い adj hot,warm
24 あつい 熱い adj hot (thing)
kind,warm(hearted),thick,de
25 あつい 厚い adj
ep
26 あっち n col over there
afterwards,since then,in the
27 あと 後 adj-no,n
future
28 あなた n you
29 あに 兄 n (hum) older brother
30 あね 姉 n (hum) older sister
31 あの pren-adj that over there
32 あの int um...
33 アパート n,adv apartment (abbr)
34 あびる ru-v to bathe,to shower
41 ある [存在] u-v-i to be
50 いく/ゆく 行く u-v to go
na-adj,adj-
76 いろいろ various
no,adv,n
no-adj,n-
77 うえ 上 adv,n,n- above,on top of
suf
78 うしろ 後ろ n behind,rear
79 うすい 薄い adj thin,weak
80 うた 歌 n song
81 うたう 歌う u-v to sing
82 うち n house (one's own)
84 うみ 海 n sea,beach
85 うる 売る u-v to sell
86 うるさい adj noisy,loud,annoying
87 うわぎ 上着 n coat,jacket
picture,drawing,painting,sket
88 え 絵 n,n-suf
ch
89 えいが 映画 n movie,film
movie theatre
90 えいがかん 映画館 n
(theater),cinema
91 えいご 英語 n the English language
92 ええ conj,int,n yes
93 えき 駅 n station
94 エレベーター n elevator
grandfather,male senior
112 おじいさん n
citizen
113 おしえる 教える ru-v to teach,to inform
114 おす 押す u-v,vt to push,to press
115 おそい 遅い adj late,slow
116 おちゃ お茶 n tea (green)
伯母さん/叔母さ
129 おばさん n aunt
ん
grandmother,female senior-
130 おばあさん n
citizen
131 おふろ お風呂 n bath
na-adj,adj-
273 こんな such,like this
pn,adv,n
na-
376 だいじょうぶ 大丈夫 safe,all right,O.K.
adj,adv,n
377 だいすき 大好き na-adj,n very likeable,like very much
378 たいせつ 大切 na-adj,n important
na-
380 たいへん very
adj,adv,n
na- difficult situation,tough
381 たいへん
adj,adv,n situation
382 たかい 高い adj tall,high
383 たかい 高い adj expensive
384 ~だけ prt only ~,just ~
na-
385 たくさん many,a lot,much
adj,adv,n
386 タクシー n taxi
387 だす 出す u-v to put out,to send
388 ~たち n-suf plural suffix
389 たつ 立つ u-v to stand
390 たて n length,height
391 たてもの 建物 n building
392 たのしい 楽しい adj enjoyable,fun
393 たのむ 頼む u-v to request,to ask
394 たばこ n tobacco,cigarettes
395 たぶん adv,n perhaps,probably
396 たべもの 食べ物 n food
397 たべる 食べる ru-v to eat
398 たまご 卵 n egg(s)
399 だれ 誰 n who
400 だれか 誰か n someone,somebody
na-adj,adj-
480 どんな what,what kind of
pn,n
n-adv,n,n-
554 はん 半 half
suf
595 ふろ n bath
596 ~ふん ~分 suf ~minutes
Existence
In Japanese, when speaking/writing, the verb will always come at the end of the sentence, with
the subject towards the beginning. A common set of verbs that are used are verbs that indicate
that the subject of the sentence exists. This is the simplest sentence structure. The three verbs that
indicate existence, in their non-past polite forms are: です・います・あります From this, we
can get the past forms by simply changing the ending of the verb. By changing to した from す
we get the past affirmative form.
All verbs also have a negative form – which in the case of です, is ではありません.
Non-Specific Subjects
When referring to the subject of a sentence, like how in English there are words such as “this” or
“that” there are Japanese equivalents of those words.
これ・この: これ translates to the word “this,” used to refer to a subject near the speaker.
Example:
これは私の日本語の教科書です。 これは わたし の にほんご の きょうかしょ
です。 This is my Japanese textbook.
それ・その: それ translates into the word “that,” used to refer to a subject closer to the
listener, and farther from the speaker.
Example:
それは雑誌ですか? それは ざっし ですか? Is that a magazine?
あれ・あの: あれ translates to the phrase “that over there,” used to refer to something most
likely distant from both the speaker and the listener.
Example:
あれは動物園です。 あれは どうぶつえん です。 That over there is a zoo.
Example:
どれですか? Which is it?
Dai -4
Time of Day
For times, the hour is the number followed by 時 (じ), and the minutes are the number followed
by 分 (ぷん or ふん, depending on the preceding number) From 1-10, there is a pattern of the
usage of ぷん and ふん. This pattern repeats for the higher digit numbers as well.
For hours
01:00 一時 いちじ
02:00 二時 にじ
03:00 三時 さんじ
04:00 四時 よじ
05:00 五時 ごじ
06:00 六時 ろくじ
07:00 七時 しちじ
08:00 八時 はちじ
09:00 九時 くじ
10:00 十時 じゅうじ
For minutes
01:00 一分 いっぷん
02:00 二分 にふん
03:00 三分 さんぷん
04:00 四分 よんぷん
05:00 五分 ごふん
06:00 六分 ろっぷん
07:00 七分 ななふん
08:00 八分 はっぷん
09:00 九分 きゅうふん
10:00 十分 じゅっぷん