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Hiragana: Chart, Pronunciation and How to Learn Them

Published on 18/10/2026

To learn hiragana, associate each character with its sound, practise recognising it without transcription, then read short words. The hiragana chart is a useful reference, but memorisation becomes stronger when you alternate reading, listening and writing. Start with the basic characters before moving on to modified signs, small letters and long vowels.

Often presented as a Japanese alphabet, hiragana are more accurately a syllabary: their characters represent sound units, rather than letters that are assembled as in English or French. They are used in particular to write grammatical particles, verb endings and the pronunciation of kanji. Recognising them therefore gives you direct access to written Japanese, without constantly relying on romaji, its transcription in Latin characters.

The aim is not simply to recite a grid in order. You need to be able to identify an isolated character, find its pronunciation in a word and distinguish similar forms. This ability gives you access to your first sentences, manga annotations and some words encountered on Japanese menus.

In brief

Learn the form and sound together, using romaji as a temporary aid.
Distinguish ordinary characters, modified signs and small letters.
Practise vowel length and the pause indicated by the small っ.
Alternate recognition, listening and writing exercises instead of copying mechanically.
Read complete words quickly to connect decoding with understanding.

Basic hiragana chart

The hiragana chart is read by sound families. The columns correspond to the vowels a, i, u, e and o; the rows group characters that generally share the same initial consonant. Empty cells are not characters you need to learn.

Family	a	i	u	e	o
Vowels	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
h	は — ha	ひ — hi	ふ — fu	へ — he	ほ — ho
m	ま — ma	み — mi	む — mu	め — me	も — mo
y	や — ya	—	ゆ — yu	—	よ — yo
r	ら — ra	り — ri	る — ru	れ — re	ろ — ro
w	わ — wa	—	—	—	を — o, also transcribed as wo
Nasal	ん — n

Understanding the Japanese syllabary

The term Japanese syllabary is convenient, but the relevant rhythmic unit is the mora. A single vowel, such as あ, already constitutes one unit; ん also constitutes one, even though it does not form an ordinary syllable. This distinction will help you understand the rhythm of words.

Identify readings that do not follow an intuitive combination for an English or French speaker: し is read shi, ち is read chi and つ is read tsu. Do not try to turn these characters into the French sounds « si », « ti » or « tu ».

Use the grid without depending on it

First read one family, then hide its transcription. Next, mix the signs: recognising け only when it appears between く and こ means that you still rely too much on the chart’s order.

Move quickly on to words such as ねこ, neko, “cat”, or いぬ, inu, “dog”. Recognising a sign outside its cell is the real starting point for reading.

Hiragana pronunciation: essential sounds

Romaji indicates a reading, but it does not describe Japanese pronunciation exactly. Treat the transcriptions as conventional reference points, not as English words. A recording is particularly useful for hearing differences that Latin spelling hides.

Vowels and consonants to listen for

あ is close to the “a” in “father”, い to “ee”, え to “e” and お to an “o” without sliding towards another vowel. For う, “oo” is a useful starting reference, but the lips are generally less rounded than in English or French.

The sound of ら, り, る, れ and ろ is not the French “r” pronounced in the throat. The tongue makes brief contact near the area behind the upper teeth; it is better to imitate this sound gesture than to look for an exact equivalent of “r” or “l”.

In ふ, the breath passes between the lips, without the usual contact between the teeth and lip of the French “f”. For し and ち, the reference sounds “shi” and “tchi” are useful at first, but remain approximations.

Respect long vowels

Vowel length can change the meaning of a word. おばさん, obasan, can refer to an aunt, while おばあさん, obaasan, can refer to a grandmother or an elderly woman. Lengthen the あ without adding French-style stress.

In Japanese spelling, おう often corresponds to a long “o”, as in ありがとう, arigatō. However, this is not a rule to apply blindly to every sequence of letters: learn each word with its sound pattern.

Finally, some particles have a particular reading: は is pronounced wa, へ is pronounced e and を is pronounced o when used grammatically. The character’s place in the sentence therefore matters as much as its form.

Modified hiragana and small letters

These variants extend the logic of the chart. Rather than learning them as unrelated drawings, look at the original character and the modification added to it. This reduces the memorisation load.

Dakuten and handakuten

The dakuten, written ゛, changes か into が, ga, さ into ざ, za, た into だ, da, and は into ば, ba, among others. The handakuten, a small circle ゜, is added to the は family to produce p sounds.

Family	Characters and common reading
g	が ga · ぎ gi · ぐ gu · げ ge · ご go
z	ざ za · じ ji · ず zu · ぜ ze · ぞ zo
d	だ da · ぢ ji · づ zu · で de · ど do
b	ば ba · び bi · ぶ bu · べ be · ぼ bo
p	ぱ pa · ぴ pi · ぷ pu · ぺ pe · ぽ po

In standard modern Japanese, じ and ぢ generally have the same pronunciation, as do ず and づ. Their spelling is not interchangeable, however: remember the written word, not just the sound you hear.

Combinations with ゃ, ゅ and ょ

The small ゃ, ゅ and ょ combine with characters such as き, し or ち. Thus, きゃ is read kya, しゅ is read shu and ちょ is read cho. The small letter modifies the combination rather than forming a separate syllable.

Compare きや, kiya, and きゃ, kya: the size of や changes the reading. The same logic appears in きょう, kyō, “today”, where the initial combination is followed by a lengthened vowel.

The small っ and the following consonant

The small っ is not pronounced tsu: it marks a hold before the following consonant. In きって, kitte, “stamp”, briefly stop before the t; in きて, kite, this hold is absent.

The size of a character and the marks accompanying it are part of the spelling. Ignoring them means reading a different sound, and sometimes a different word.

Learning method and writing exercises

A useful learning method combines visual recognition, memory recall and listening. Copying a page can familiarise you with the forms, but it does not check whether you can find them again without a model.

Organise an active study session

Observe: look at a small group of characters and listen to their pronunciation.
Recall: hide the chart, then say the sound of each sign shown in random order.
Write: start with a sound you hear and draw the corresponding character without looking at it.
Correct: compare your work with a handwritten model showing stroke order.
Reuse: decode a word containing the elements you have practised.

Bring back uncertain signs in later sessions without abandoning those you already recognise. Flashcards and spaced repetition make this easier to organise, but a paper sheet works too.

Distinguish similar forms

Place ぬ and め side by side to observe the characteristic final loop of ぬ. Also compare ね, れ and わ: their beginnings look similar, but their right-hand sections differ. Record the precise detail that causes your mistake.

Mnemonic devices can support memorisation, provided you connect the mental image to the correct sound. As soon as recognition becomes direct, leave this detour behind: it should not permanently slow down your reading.

For writing exercises, use a model designed for handwriting. Some fonts join strokes in き or さ that may be separated when written by hand; these differences do not create new characters.

Focus on your recurring mistakes rather than on a universal mastery deadline. Our guide to learning Japanese progressively allows you to integrate this work into a broader learning path. A successful session makes clear what still needs to be reviewed.

Read your first words in hiragana

Japanese reading requires more than associating a shape with a sound. You need to recognise words, understand their role and maintain the rhythm of the sentence. Begin with short texts accompanied by a recording and an explanation.

Move from decoding to meaning

On a menu, すし is read sushi, そば is read soba and うどん is read udon. The last word also gives you practice with ん. You can find these words in context in our guide to Japanese food, then try to recognise their written forms without transcription.

In すしをたべます, sushi o tabemasu, を indicates what is being eaten. The sentence means “eat sushi” in a polite form; the subject depends on the context and is not necessarily “I”.

You will also encounter 食べます, where 食 replaces the initial part written た in the fully phonetic version. The characters that follow the kanji are okurigana: they participate in writing grammatical forms in particular.

Use furigana in manga

The small characters placed beside a kanji to indicate its reading are called furigana. They are useful in some manga and educational books, but their presence does not automatically make the vocabulary or grammar easy.

Choose a short passage and try to understand a complete expression. Decoding a speech bubble without being able to explain its meaning indicates that you need to work on vocabulary or sentence structure, not only speed.

Add katakana and kanji

Katakana largely represent the same sounds, with different forms and different uses, particularly for foreign loanwords. Learning them complements hiragana; it does not replace it.

Also introduce words containing kanji, together with their reading and meaning, using reference points to master kanji. Japanese learning progresses when writing, vocabulary and sentences are practised together.

Should you learn hiragana before katakana?

Starting with hiragana is practical because they appear in particles and grammatical endings. Add katakana afterwards while continuing to read simple sentences.

How long does it take to memorise hiragana?

The pace varies depending on regularity and the type of practice. Recognising a chart, reading words and writing from memory are separate skills: assess them separately rather than aiming for a fixed timeframe.

Can you learn hiragana without handwriting?

Yes, recognition can be practised through reading and listening. Writing remains useful for observing differences between similar forms and checking that you can reproduce a character without a model.

When should you stop looking at romaji?

Hide it as soon as you begin recognising the characters you are studying. Try to read the Japanese first, then consult the transcription to check your answer: it becomes a correction tool rather than a shortcut.