Japanese/Kana/Lessons/Hiragana/Lesson 10

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Hiragana: [ a ] [ ka ] [ sa ] [ ta ] [ na ] [ ha ] [ ma ] [ ya ] [ ra ] [ wa, wo, n ] [ ゐ and ゑ (ancient hiragana in disuse) ]
Katakana: [ a ] [ ka ] [ sa ] [ ta ] [ na ] [ ha ] [ ma ] [ ya ] [ ra ] [ wa, wo, n ] [ ヰ and ヱ (ancient katakana in disuse) ]

In this lesson you are going to learn how to read and write "わ", "を" and "ん".

Brush Stroke: わ-bw.png
Sound:

wa
Mnemonic:
Example:
  • わし 鷲(washi) eagle
  • わに 鰐(wani) alligator
  • わるい 悪い(warui) bad
Brush Stroke: を-bw.png
Sound:

Similar to o. When spoken, the mouth is shaped as if saying 'w', and a trace of the 'w' appears in the sound so in English it is often written 'wo'. The 'w' is particularly noticeable when the preceding word ends in 'n', for example in パンを食べる meaning to eat bread.
Mnemonic:
Example:
  • を (wo or o) a particle introducing an object
  • すさのを - Susano(w)o, an ancient god of the storms and seas

Note: The "を" syllable is used only for the object marker particle. No other word is written with "を".

Brush Stroke: ん-bw.png
Sound:

Can sound like an n, ng, or m sound, depending on what consonant follows it (for example, if a "p" follows, this sound will be an "m"). Because there is little differentiation between these sounds in Japanese, using n for all examples will still be clearly understood.
Mnemonic:
Example:
  • おんな 女(onna) woman
  • さんご 珊瑚(sango) coral
  • さんそ 酸素(sanso) oxygen

Note: No word starts with "ん".

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