ひらがな

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.

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

1. Introduction

1-1. How to use “Complete Hiragana Workbook”

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.

1-2. 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.

1-3. 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 Chart

Basic 46 Hiragana
Yō-on

Daku-on
 3. Hiragana writing
worksheet 3-1. 46 Basic
あHiragana

o
 a i u e o

Let’s practise writing words!

あい
a i (love)

うえ
u e (above)

あお
a o (blue)

おおい
o o i (many)

いいえ
i i e (No)
 ka

ki

ku

ke

ko
 ka ki ku ke ko

Let’s practise writing words!

かき
ka ki (persimmon)

くうき
ku u ki (air)

おけ
o ke (pail)

こい
ko i (carp)

けいかく
ke i ka ku (plan)
 sa

shi

su

se

so
 sa shi su se so

Let’s practise writing words!

かさ
ka sa (umbrella)

おかし
o ka shi (snack)

o su
おすし shi (sushi)

せかい
se ka i (world)

うそ
u so (lie)
 ta

chi

tsu

te

to
 ta chi tsu te to

Let’s practise writing words!

たこ
ta ko (octopus)

けち
ke chi (stingy)

つくえ
tsu ku e (desk)

たすけて
ta su ke te (help! –in emergency)

とけい
to ke i (clock / watch)
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)

chi i sa i (small)
 na

a tsu i (hot)

ni

nu

ne

no
 na ni nu ne no

Let’s practise writing words!

な
na す
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)
 ha

hi

fu

he

ho
 ha hi fu he ho

Let’s practise writing words!

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)
 ma

mi

mu

me

mo
 ma mi mu me mo

Let’s practise writing words!

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

ya yu yo

Let’s practise writing words!

ゆ
yu
き
ki (snow)

よやく
yo ya ku (reservation)

やすい
ya su i (cheap)
 ra

ri

ru

re

ro
 ra ri ru re ro

Let’s practise writing words!

たから
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)
 wa

wo

* 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”.

wa wo n

Let’s practise writing words!

わに
wa ni (crocodile)

にほん
ni ho n (Japan)
 ほんをかいます。
ho n o ka i ma su.
(wo)

(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.

• 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 きき りり らら ふ
さ む む ふ
sa ki ri mu ra fu

• 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
 Let’s review and practise!

1. Please fill in the chart.

A I U E O

(shi)
S

(chi) (tsu)
T

(fu)
H

(o)
W

(n/m/ŋ )
N
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.

 3-2. Daku-on

ga

gi

gu

ge

go

ka ki ku ke ko

ga gi gu ge go
za

ji

zu

ze

zo

sa shi su se so

za zi zu ze zo
(*pronounce “ji”)
Let’s practise writing words!

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
ka zo ku (family)
 あ
da

ji

zu

de

do

ta chi tsu te to

da ji zu 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”

30
Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved
 ba

bi

bu

be

bo

pa

pi

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 31

pu

pe

po

ha hi fu he ho

ba bi bu be bo

pa pi pu pe po
Let’s practise writing words!

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
bo ta n (button)
Review of Daku-on
Fill in the chart below.
A I U E O

Z (ji)

D (ji) (zu)

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)

4. Pronunciation Rules
4-1. Choo-on (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 a sa n → /okāsan/ : mother

いいえ iie → /īe/ : No

くうき ku u ki → /kūki/ : air え

え ee → /ē/ : Yes (casual)
おおい ooi → /ōi/ : many

くうこう ku u ko u → /kūkō/ : airport

えいが e i ga → / ēga/ : movie

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

おはよう o ha yo 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 have 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)
 4-2. Soku-on (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/ 5. もて /mo･te/
2. きって /ki･t･te/ 6. もって /mo･t･te/

3. けして /ke･shi･te/ 7. かて /ka･te/

4. けっして /ke･s･shite/ 8. かって /ka･t･te/

い っ か い Inwritten
vertical writing, the small っ is
in the right half of the
square.
In horizontal writing,
the small っ is written in the
っ
lower half of the square.
か
Let’s practise writing!

きkippu
っ (ticket
ぷ)
ざ っ し
zasshi (magazine)
4-3. Yō-on (small ya yu yo with contracted sound)

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)

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 , 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:

ひやく ひゃく
hiyaku (leap) hyaku (hundred)

Let’s Practise!

おちゃ
ocha (tea)

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

じ ゅう し ょ
juusho *-long vowel- (address)

じ ど う し ゃ
jidousha *pronounce “jidōsha” -long vowel- (car)

ぎ ゅ う に ゅ う
gyuunyuu *-long vowel- (milk)
4-4. Devoiced Vowels

Devoiced Vowels
There are four voiceless consonants in Japanese sound, /k/, /s/,/t/ and /h/.

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

Example:
# すし sushi (Compared to す ま su ma
,which requires a “u” sound)

# くつ kutsu (Compared to く に ku ni
, which requires “u” sound)
# きく kiku (Compared to き ぬ ki 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 。 ~ desu. (€ end of a noun phrase: e.g. Watashi wa Yamada
desu.)
# すし sushi (Compared to す み su mi)

# くつ kutsu (Compared to つ り tsu ri)

4-5. Pronunciation of ん
Pronunciation of ん is basically the same as the English /n/, and requires the same
length of time as all the other Hiragana sounds.

However, there are some exceptions as follows:

• ん before /b/, /p/ or /m/ sound becomes /m/ sound.

• ん before /k/ or /g/ sound becomes /ŋ/ sound.

Example

/n/ sound: ほんとう ho n tō みんな mi n na

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

うんめい u n mē

/ŋ/ sound: てんき te n ki おんがく o n ga ku

5. Hiragana in sentences
5-1. Particle
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：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 がくせいです。watashi wa gakusē desu.
: I’m a student. (As for I, student.)
• きのうは あめでした。kinō wa 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 はいしゃです。watashi wa haisha desu.
: I’m a dentist. (As for I, dentist.)
へ: as a particle, is pronounced as “e”, exactly the same pronunciation as え.へ is
a direction marker.

Example
• えき へ いきます。 eki e ikimasu.
: (I) go to the station.

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

• へや へ もどります。 heya e modorimasu.
: (I) go back to the room.

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 たべます。 osushi o tabemasu.
: (I) eat sushi.
にほんごを べんきょうします。 nihongo o benkyō shimasu.
: (I) study Japanese.
 5-2. Japanese 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