Chart

To help you remember the characters, each one is paired with a mnemonic to make learning easier. Click on any Hiragana character to learn more about its pronunciation, story, and stroke order!

Dakuten and Handakuten

Dakuten (濁点) and Handakuten (半濁点) are diacritical marks used in Japanese to modify certain hiragana characters. The addition of a dakuten, which looks like two small lines (゛), transforms voiceless consonants into their voiced counterparts. For example, "か" (ka) becomes "が" (ga) and "さ" (sa) becomes "ざ" (za). Handakuten, represented by a small circle (゜), is only used with the "h" row to create a "p" sound. For example, "は" (ha) becomes "ぱ" (pa). These modifications expand the range of sounds in Japanese, allowing for clearer pronunciation and greater expressiveness.

Yōon

Yōon (拗音) refers to the combination of a consonant followed by a smaller version of the "ya" (や), "yu" (ゆ), or "yo" (よ) syllables to create blended sounds. For example, "き" (ki) combined with small "や" (ゃ) creates "きゃ" (kya), and "し" (shi) with small "ゅ" (ゅ) forms "しゅ" (shu). Yōon combinations are common in many words and allow for more complex and nuanced pronunciation in Japanese, making them essential for mastering the language's phonetic structure.