Table of Contents - · PDF fileHow to use 1. How to use 1. How to use ““““Complete Hiragana Complete Hiragana Complete Hiragana ” ””” This Complete Hiragana Workbook

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 1

Complete Hiragana Workbook

Table of Contents

1. Introduction …………….2

� 1. How to use the “Complete Hiragana workbook”

� 2. Hiragana at a glance

� 3. Hiragana writing tips

2. Hiragana Chart ………………4

3. Hiragana writing worksheet ……………..5

� 1. 46 basic Hiragana

� 2. Daku-on (Voiced and Semi-voiced Varieties)

4. Pronunciation Rules ………………….35

� 1. Chō-on (long vowel)

� 2. Soku-on (double consonants)

� 3. Yō-on (small ya yu yo with contracted sound)

� 4. Devoiced vowels

� 5. Pronunciation of ん

5. Hiragana in sentences ………………..42

� 1. Particles

� 2. Japanese sentences

6. Hiragana Flash Cards … appendix

7. Hiragana Flash Card Video … appendix

Chapters with this mark have accompanying videos.

ひらがな


1. Introduction1. Introduction1. Introduction1. Introduction

1111----1. How to use 1. How to use 1. How to use 1. How to use ““““Complete Hiragana Complete Hiragana Complete Hiragana Complete Hiragana WWWWorkbookorkbookorkbookorkbook””””

This Complete Hiragana Workbook covers all you need for Hiragana

self-study. The accompanied tutorial videos clarify each Hiragana character’s

writing stroke order and its pronunciation.

Hiragana has 46 basic writing characters and 58 variations and

combinations. Moreover, there are some special pronunciation and writing

rules. You’ll learn all about Hiragana writing through this workbook and

tutorial videos. Throughout this workbook, over 100 words are introduced.

To make the most of your study, I recommend you go through each

lesson in the same order as this workbook.

Step 1 Print out all of this Hiragana Workbook.

Step 2 Look at the Katakana Chart (p4) and grasp the total picture of Hiragana

Step 3 Watch video tutorials and practise writing and pronouncing each

Hiragana letter. Do exercise accordingly.

Sept 4 Play with Flashcards and Flashcard videos every day.

1111----2222. Hiragana at a glance. Hiragana at a glance. Hiragana at a glance. Hiragana at a glance

Japanese is a syllable-timed language while English is stress-timed. That

means, you can understand how to read any Japanese words once you know

how to pronounce each Hiragana character and some pronunciation rules.

(on the other hand for English, you need to know the spelling as well as the

pronunciation. We never know how to pronounce an English word such as


“photo” by just knowing how to read alphabet: a,b,c…). Japanese

pronunciation rule is very systematic, thus, once you know it, it’s much

easier for you to study Japanese further up to the upper level.

Each Japanese syllable is made up of either a single vowel: /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/ and

/o/ or a combination of a consonant plus a vowel. The only exception is the /n/,

/m/ or /ŋ/ sound which is represented by the character ん.

There are 46 basic Hiragana, 25 voiced or semi-voiced variations (called

“Daku-on) and 33 contracted sounds. Here, “voiced” means you use your

vocal cords to pronounce them. It begins with the consonants /b/, /d/, /g/, /j/

and /z/ and semi-voiced ones begin with /p/, that we call Daku-on. Contracted

sounds are basic Hiragana of the i-column combined with smaller versions of

the Hiragana from y-row.

Each Hiragana character takes one beat, “mora”. So please make sure to

pronounce each character with equal length and stress.

1111----3333. Hiragana writing tips. Hiragana writing tips. Hiragana writing tips. Hiragana writing tips

Stroke order is very important for writing well-balanced Hiragana.

Basically, all Japanese writing (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji) write the

horizontal stroke first, then the vertical stroke if two lines are crossed. Of

course, there are some exceptions though.

If there are two parts, write the left side first then the right side, or write the

top part first then the bottom part.

Also, it’s important to pay attention to the direction and termination of each

stroke. In this workbook, you’ll see the following marks for each stroke end.

� to stop the stroke.

� to release the pen pressure.

� to hook


2. Hiragana Chart2. Hiragana Chart2. Hiragana Chart2. Hiragana Chart

Basic 46 HiraganaBasic 46 HiraganaBasic 46 HiraganaBasic 46 Hiragana

DakuDakuDakuDaku----onononon

YYYYōōōō----onononon


あ

aaaa

oooo

eeee

uuuu

iiii

3. Hiragana writing worksheet3. Hiragana writing worksheet3. Hiragana writing worksheet3. Hiragana writing worksheet

3333----1111. . . . 46 Basic Hira46 Basic Hira46 Basic Hira46 Basic Hiraganaganaganagana


a i u e o

Let’s practise writing words!

a i (love)

u e (above)

a o (blue)

おおい o o i (many)

いいえ

i i e (No)

あい

うえ

あお


kkkkaaaa

kkkkoooo

kkkkeeee

kkkkuuuu

kkkkiiii


かきくうき

おけこい

ke i ka ku (plan)

ko i (carp)

o ke (pail)

ku u ki (air)

ka ki (persimmon)

ka ki ku ke ko


けいかく


sasasasa

shishishishi

susususu

sesesese

sosososo


かさ

おかし

o ka shi (snack)

se ka i (world)

u so (lie)

o su shi (sushi)

ka sa (umbrella)

sa shi su se so


おすし

せかい

うそ


tatatata

tetetete

tsutsutsutsu

chichichichi

totototo


たこ

tsu ku e (desk)

ta ko (octopus)

ta su ke te (help! –in emergency)

to ke i (clock / watch)

ta chi tsu te to


ke chi (stingy)

けち

つくえ

たすけてとけい


chi i sa i (small)

Let’s practise more! (Review あ～と)

su i ka (watermelon)

shi o (salt)

ko ta e (answer)

o i shi i (tasty)

chi ka te tsu (subway)

a tsu i (hot)

a shi ta (tomorrow)

ke i sa tsu (police)


a tsu i (hot)

nananana

nenenene

nononono

nininini

nunununu


na ni nu ne no


なす

na su (eggplant)

にく

ni ku (meat)

いぬ

i nu (dog)

ねこ

ne ko (cat)

たのしい

ta no shi i (fun, enjoyable)

おかね

o ka ne (money)


hohohoho

hihihihi

hahahaha

fufufufu

hehehehe


ha hi fu he ho


はは

ha ha (my mother)

ひこうき

hi ko u ki (airplane)

ふね

fu ne (ship)

へそ

he so (bellybutton)

ほし

ho shi (stars)

せいふく

se i fu ku (uniform)

おはし

o ha shi (chopstick)


momomomo

mamamama

mumumumu

memememe

mmmmiiii


ma mi mu me mo


なまえ

na ma e (name)

みせ

mi se (shop)

むね

mu ne (chest)

あめ

a me (rain)

のみもの

no mi mo no (drink)

はちみつ

ha chi mi tsu (honey)


ya yu yo Let’s practise writing words!

ゆき

yu ki (snow)

よやく

yo ya ku (reservation)

やすい

ya su i (cheap)

yayayaya

yoyoyoyo

yuyuyuyu


rararara

riririri

rurururu

rererere

rorororo


ra ri ru re ro


たからららら

ta ka ra (treasure)

くすり

ku su ri (medicine)

さる

sa ru (monkey)

れきし

re ki shi (history)

ふろ

fu ro (bath)

ひるやすみ

hi ru ya su mi (lunch break)


ni ho n (Japan)

wa wo n


わに

wa ni (crocodile)

にほん

* the pronunciation of を is the same as お. However when you write on

a computer, type “wo” for を.

* を is a particle, direct object marker.

* When you write ん on a computer, type “nn”.

wwwwaaaa

wwwwoooo

nnnn


(I ) buy a book. (ほん: book, かいます: to buy)

“。” indicates the end of a sentence. = “period”.

This circle should be placed in the bottom left corner.

sa ki ri mu ra fu

ho n o ka i ma su. (wo)

� Please note the difference between the handwriting style and

the printing style of the following Hiragana. Also, there is a variety of style by using different fonts.

ささききりりむむららふふ

� Please note the following similar looking Hiragana.

(Please check the pronunciation of each letter.)

さちいこまもはほ

れわねつしめぬらち

あおろるりい

ほんをかいます。


Let’s review and practise! 1. Please fill in the chart.

A I U E O

K

S

(shi)

T

(chi) (tsu)

N

H

(fu)

M

Y

R

W

(o)

N

(n/m/ŋ )


2. Write following words in Hiragana.

1. uchi (home)

2. eki (station)

3. kutsu (shoes)

4. kami (paper)

5. kuruma (car)

6. sakana (fish)

7. toriniku (chicken)

8. hana (flower)

9. heya (room)

10. yasai (vegetable)

* The answers are on the last page.


ka ki ku ke ko

ga gi gu ge go

gagagaga

gigigigi

gogogogo

gegegege

gugugugu

3333----2. Daku2. Daku2. Daku2. Daku----onononon


sa shi su se so

za zi zu ze zo (*pronounce “ji”)

zazazaza

jijijiji

zuzuzuzu

zezezeze

zozozozo


ka zo ku (family)

がめん

ga me n (screen)

かぎ

ka gi (key)

ぐあい

gu a i (condition/ body condition)

かげ

ka ge (shadow)

ぎざぎざ

gi za gi za (jagged)

がいこくご

ga i ko ku go (foreign language)

じさ

ji sa (time difference)

しずか

shi zu ka (quiet)

かぜ

ka ze (wind)

かぞく



あ

ta chi tsu te to

da jijijiji zuzuzuzu de do

ぢ pronounce as “ji”(same asじ). However, writing on a computer,

type “di”.

づ pronounce as “zu”(same as ず). However, writing on a computer,

type “du”

dadadada

jijijiji

zuzuzuzu

dededede

dodododo


babababa

bobobobo

bubububu

bebebebe

bibibibi

pipipipi

papapapa


ha hi fu he ho

ba bi bu be bo

pa pi pu pe po

popopopo

pepepepe

pupupupu


bo ta n (button)

ただ

ta da (free of charge)

はなぢ

ha na di *pronounce “hanaji” (nosebleed)

つづき

tsu du ki *pronounce “tsuzuki” (continuation)

でんわ

de n wa (telephone)

ときどき

to ki do ki (sometimes)

おばけ

o ba ke (ghost)

えび

e bi (prawn, shrimp)

ぶた

bu ta (pig)

べんり

be n ri (convenient)

ぼたん



Fill in the chart below.

Write following words in Hiragana.

1. denwa __________ (telephone)

2. kagi __________ (key)

3. buta __________ (pig)

4. gaikokugo (foreign language)

5. jisa (time difference)

6. anzen (safe)

7. kazoku (family)

8. tokidoki (sometimes)

9. ebi __________ (prawn, shrimp)

10. benri __________ (convenient)

A I U E O

G

Z (ji)

D (ji) (zu)

B

P

Review of Daku-on


4. 4. 4. 4. PronunciationPronunciationPronunciationPronunciation RulesRulesRulesRules

4444----1. 1. 1. 1. ChooChooChooChoo----onononon ((((Long vowels)Long vowels)Long vowels)Long vowels)

There are five vowels in Japanese: /a i u e o/.

� When a vowel is doubled e.g. /a/, it takes two beats and is expressed as

/aa/ or /ā/. It is the same for other vowels /i/, /u/, /e/ and /o/.

� Also, when there is /e/ and /i/ or /o/ and /u/ it has two beats on the first

vowel, which are /ē/ or /ee/ and /ō/ or /oo/ respectively.

Example:

おかあさん o ka aa aa aa a sa n → /okāsan/ : mother

いいえ i ii ii ii i e → /īe/ : No

くうき ku uu uu uu u ki → /kūki/ : air

ええ eeeeeeee → /ē/ : Yes (casual)

おおい ooooooooi → /ōi/ : many

くうこう ku uu uu uu u ko uo uo uo u → /kūkō/ : airport

えいが e ie ie ie i ga → / ēga/ : movie

とうふ to uo uo uo u fu → /tōfu/ : tofu (bean curd)

おはよう o ha yo uo uo uo u → /ohayō/ : Good morning (casual)

Thus, you need to differentiate between this long vowel and a normal vowel

carefully because sometimes it ends up as an entirely different word. For

instance, if you wanted say “your mother is calling”, it might be

misunderstood as “Mr. Oka is calling” if you say “okasan” not “okaasan”


As explained above ( /e/&/i/ and /o/&/u/) � Combinations of the following letters letters letters letters havehavehavehave a sound of /ē/

(= /ee/).

えいけいせいていねいへいめいれい

� Combinations of the following letters have a sound of /ō/ (=/oo/).

おうこうそうとうのうほうもうようろう

Let’s practise!

ぼうし

bo u shi *bōshi , (hat, cap)

せんせい

se n se i *sensē (teacher)

きれい

ki re i *kirē (beautiful, clean)

へいわ

he i wa *hēwa (peace)

こうこう

ko u ko u *kōkō (high school)

きいろ

ki i ro *kīro (yellow)


zasshi (magazine)

4444----2222. Soku. Soku. Soku. Soku----onononon (Double Consonants)

Besides full-sized つ, you’ll see a small size of っ.

When you see this small っ, make the previous letter’s sound as “contracted”

and hold a breath for one beat.

Smallっdoesn’t require “tsu” sound, but it takes one beat with the contracted

previous sound and double the following consonant.

Example:

いか � /i･ka/ (2 beats: squid)

いっか � /i･k･ka/ (3 beats : a whole family)

いつか � /i･tsu･ka/ (3 beats: Day 5th)

1. きて /ki･te/

2. きって /ki･t･te/

3. けして /ke･shi･te/

4. けっして /ke･s･shite/

In horizontal writing,

the smallっ is written in the

lower half of the square.

Let’s practise writing!

kippu (ticket)

いっかい

っ

か

きっぷ

ざっし

5. もて /mo･te/

6. もって /mo･t･te/

7. かて /ka･te/

8. かって /ka･t･te/

In vertical writing, the small

っ is written in the right half

of the square.


4444----3. Y3. Y3. Y3. Yōōōō----on on on on (small ya yu yo with contracted sound)

Although each of this contracted sound is composed of two characters (one

big and one small), it represents only one beat, just like a single hiragana

character.

Small や, ゆ and よ are added to i-column

of Hiragana (left in the red circle).

きゃ(kya) きゅ(kyu) きょ(kyo)

しゃ (sha) しゅ(shu) しょ(sho)

ちゃ(cha) ちゅ(chu) ちょ(cho)

にゃ(nya) にゅ(nyu) にょ(nyo)

ひゃ(hya) ひゅ(hyu) ひょ(hyo)

みゃ(mya) みゅ(myu) みょ(myo)

りゃ(rya) りゅ(ryu) りょ(ryo)

ぎゃ(gya) ぎゅ(gyu) ぎょ(gyo)

じゃ(ja) じゅ(ju) じょ(jo)

びゃ(bya) びゅ(byu) びょ(byo)

ぴゃ(pya) ぴゅ(pyu) ぴょ(pyo)


Small や, ゆ, よ are written in the lower half of the square, if they are

written on a horizontal line. They are written in the right half of the square

in vertical writing.

Example:

ひひひひややややくくくくひひひひゃゃゃゃくくくく hiyaku (leap) hyaku (hundred)

Let’s Practise!

ocha (tea)

kyou *pronounce “kyō” –long vowel- (today)

juusho *-long vowel- (address)

jidousha *pronounce “jidōsha” -long vowel- (car)

gyuunyuu *-long vowel- (milk)

おおおおちちちちゃゃゃゃ

きょう

じゅうしょ

じどうしゃ

ぎゅうにゅう


4444----4444. . . . Devoiced VowelsDevoiced VowelsDevoiced VowelsDevoiced Vowels

Devoiced VowelsDevoiced VowelsDevoiced VowelsDevoiced Vowels

There are four voiceless consonants in Japanese sound, /kkkk/, /ssss/,/tttt/ and /hhhh/.

A vowel becomes voiceless when the vowels (i and u) falls between the

voiceless consonants

Example:

� すし suuuushi (Compared to すま suuuu ma

,which requires a “u” sound)

� くつ kuuuutsu (Compared to くに kuuuu ni

, which requires “u” sound)

� きく kiiiiku (Compared to きぬ kiiii nu

, which requires “i” sound)

When the vowels (i and u) follow one of the voiceless consonants and ends a

word, these vowels are whispered.

Example:

� ～です。~ desuuuu. (� end of a noun phrase: e.g. Watashi wa

Yamada desuuuu.)

� すし suuuushiiii (Compared to すみ suuuu miiii)

� くつ kuuuutsuuuu (Compared to つり tsuuuu riiii)


4444----5. 5. 5. 5. PronunciationPronunciationPronunciationPronunciation of of of of んんんん

Pronunciation of ん is basically the same as the English /nnnn/, and requires

the same length of time as all the other Hiragana sounds.

However, there are some exceptions as follows:

� ん before /bbbb/, /pppp/ or /mmmm/ sound becomes /mmmm/ sound.

� ん before /kkkk/ or /gggg/ sound becomes /ŋŋŋŋ/ sound.

Example

/nnnn/ sound: ほんとう ho nnnn tō みんな mi nnnn na

/mmmm/ sound: しんぶん shi nnnn bu n てんぷら te nnnn pu ra

うんめい u nnnn mē

/ŋŋŋŋ/ sound: てんき te nnnn ki おんがく o nnnn ga ku


5. 5. 5. 5. Hiragana in sentencesHiragana in sentencesHiragana in sentencesHiragana in sentences

5555----1. 1. 1. 1. ParticleParticleParticleParticle

The particle is something like a preposition in English, however, the concept

of the Japanese particle is quite different from the one in English.

The Japanese particle itself doesn’t have meaning but it indicates the

relationship between the subject, object and verb.

The details about the particle will be explained in many grammar books and

will not be explained in this section.

There are many types of particles and each particle has several functions as

well. In this section, three particles will be introduced: は, へ and を.

はははは：as a particle, pronounced as “wa”, exactly the same pronunciation of わ.

は is a topic marker and translated like “as for”, “regarding”

Example

� わたしははははがくせいです。watashi wawawawa gakusē desu.

: I’m a student. (As for I, student.)

� きのうははははあめでした。kinō wawawawa ame deshita.

: It rained yesterday. (As for yesterday, it was a rain)

Please note that は is pronounced as “ha” if it’s used as a word.

� わたしはははははいしゃです。watashi wa haisha desu.

: I’m a dentist. (As for I, dentist.)


へへへへ: as a particle, is pronounced as “e”, exactly the same pronunciation as え.

へ is a direction marker.

Example

� えきへへへへいきます。 eki eeee ikimasu.

: (I) go to the station.

Please note that へ is pronounced as “he” if it’s used as a word.

� へやへへへへもどります。 heya eeee modorimasu.

: (I) go back to the room.

をををを: is only used as a particle. Direct object marker.

を is pronounced “o”, and it pronounces same as お.

Example

おすしををををたべます。 osushi oooo tabemasu.

: (I) eat sushi.

にほんごををををべんきょうします。 nihongo oooo benkyō shimasu.

: (I) study Japanese.


5555----2222. . . . Japanese sentencesJapanese sentencesJapanese sentencesJapanese sentences

Let’s practise writing sentences! (Trace the sentences below and write the copy on the second line)

1. わたしはがくせいです。 I’m a student. watashi wa gakusē desu.

2. あしたびょういんへいきます。 I’m going to the hospital tomorrow.

ashita byōin e ikimasu.

3. まいにちややややさいをたべます。 (I) eat vegetable everyday.

mainichi yasai o (wo) tabemasu.

4. おげんきですか。 How are you? ogenki desu ka?

(“ka” is a question marker)

5. はい、げんきです。 Yes, I’m fine. hai, genki desu.

(“、” is a punctuation.)


Answer of page26

1. uchi (home) うち

2. eki (station) えき

3. kutsu (shoes) くつ

4. kami (paper) かみ

5. kuruma (car) くるま

6. sakana (fish) さかな

7. toriniku (chicken) とりにく

8. hana (flower) はな

9. heya (room) へや

10. yasai (vegetable) やさい

Documents

Table of Contents - · PDF fileHow to use 1. How to use 1. How to use ““““Complete Hiragana Complete Hiragana Complete Hiragana ” ””” This Complete Hiragana Workbook