Hiragana Reading / Writing Guide

Here is a guide to the essential rules of Hiragana pronunciation in Japanese.

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1. Long Vowels (長音 - Choo on)

In Japanese, vowel length changes the meaning of a word (e.g., ie = house vs. iie = no). When a vowel is doubled, you simply hold the vowel sound for two beats instead of one.

Here is how they are written in Hiragana:

• A-sound + あ: おかあさん (okaasan / Mother)

• I-sound + い: おにいさん (oniisan / Older brother)

• U-sound + う: たいふう ( taifuu / Typhoon)

• E-sound + い (Usually): せんせい (sensei → pronounced sensee / Teacher)

  • Exception: A few words use え, like おねえさん (oneesan / Older sister)

• O-sound + う (Usually): ありがとう (arigatou → pronounced arigatoo / Thank you)

  • Exception: A few words use お, like おおきい (ookii / Big)

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2. Double Consonants / Small Tsu (促音 - Sokuon)

When you see a small っ (tsu), it is not pronounced as "tsu." Instead, it creates a glottal stop or a sharp pause right before the next consonant. Think of it as holding your breath for a split second.

In English romaji, this is represented by doubling the consonant that follows it.

• きて (kite / Come) vs. きって (kitte / Stamp)

• さか (saka / Hill) vs. さっか (sakka / Author)

How to pronounce it: Imagine saying the English phrase "cat tail." The tiny pause your tongue makes between the two 't's is exactly how っ works.

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3. Tricky Particles (助詞 - Joshi)

Grammatical particles are the glue of Japanese sentences. Three specific Hiragana characters change their pronunciation entirely when used as particles:

Character	Normal Pronunciation	Particle Pronunciation	Grammatical Role	Example
は	ha	wa	Topic Marker	わたしは (Watashi wa... / As for me...)
を	o	o	Object Marker	ほんをよむ (Hon o yomu / Read a book)  NOT お
へ	he	e	Direction Marker	とうきょうへ (Tōkyō e / To Tokyo)

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4. Modified Sounds (Dakuon & Handakuon)

You can change the pronunciation of certain Hiragana families by adding small marks to the top right corner of the character.

Tenten (゛) - Voicing

The tenten (two small dots) turns unvoiced consonants into voiced consonants.

• K → G (e.g., か ka → が ga)

• S → Z (e.g., さ sa → ざ za) *(し shi becomes じ ji)

• T → D (e.g., た ta → だ da) *(ち chi becomes ぢ ji / つ tsu becomes づ zu)

• H → B (e.g., は ha → ば ba)

Maru (゜) - P-sound

The maru (a tiny circle) is only used with the H-row to turn them into P-sounds.

• H → P (e.g., は ha → ぱ pa)

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5. Contracted Sounds (拗音 - Yooon)

When an i-column character (like き ki, し shi, に ni) is paired with a small ゃ (ya), ゅ (yu), or ょ (yo), they blend into a single syllable.

• きよ (ki-yo / Two syllables) vs. きょ (kyo / One syllable)

• しゅ (shu / as in shumi - hobby)

• りょ (ryo / as in ryokan - Japanese inn)

• びよういん (biyooin / hairdresser) vs. びょういん (byooin / hospital)

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Which of these rules do you find the most challenging to practice?