Lesson 3
Lesson 3
loanwords and
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onomatopoeia. Like the hiragana, there 5 singular vowels, 40
consonant-vowels and 1 singular consonant.
6. Romaji. In addition to the three Japanese character systems (kanji,
hiragana, katakana), in Japan you will see the Roman alphabet used
to spell out sounds. These Romanized letters, may be used where
Japanese text is targeted at non-Japanese speakers, such as street
signs, dictionaries, textbooks and passports.
Essential Knowledge
Japanese alphabet
⮚ Hiragana ひらがな
Dakuten (゛) and Handakuten (゜) can be added to the basic Hiragana
set to change the pronunciation and extend the alphabet used to create
native Japanese words.
20 Basic Dakuten Hiragana characters
K→G
When dakuten markers
are added, k sounds
become g sounds.
か が ga
き ぎ gi
く ぐ gu
け げ ge
こ ご go
H→B
When dakuten markers are added,
h sounds become b sounds.
は ば Ba
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ひ び Bi
ふ ぶ bu
へ べ Be
ほ ぼ Bo
S → Z, T → D
When dakuten markers are added, s
sounds become z sounds (except for
shi which becomes ji).
さ ざ za
し じ ji
す ず zu
せ ぜ ze
そ ぞ zo
た だ da
ち ぢ ji*
つ づ dzu*
て で de
と ど do
は ぱ pa
ひ ぴ pi
ふ ぷ pu
へ ぺ pe
ほ ぽ po
33 Small や, ゆ, よ Characters
しゃ sha にゃ nya じゃ ja
しゅ shu にゅ nyu じゅ ju
しょ sho にょ nyo じょ jo
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Correct Strokes of Hiragana Characters
Committing Hiragana to memory isn’t enough. You must also learn the correct
stroke order in writing each character. With the following visual stroke-by-stroke
guide, you will learn to write hiragana characters. Be sure to follow the correct
stroke order shown in the guide because this will also help you remember how to
draw the characters.
⮚
Katakana カタカナ
Chart 1
Chart 2
ガ ga ギ gi グ gu ゲ ge ゴ
go
ザ za ジ ji ズ zu ゼ ze ゾ zo
ダ da ヂ ji ヅ zu デ ド do
de
バ ba ビ ブ bu ベ be ボ bo
bi
パ pa ピ pi プ pu ぺ pe ポ po
⮚ Basic Kanji
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Also, you may think 万年筆 (“fountain pen”) will never
show up in the JLPT N5 and yet it somehow it always does. It
translates as “ten-thousand year writing brush” aka a pen that
outlasts all others.
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十 ten juu, ji tou, to 十日 (10th day of
the month)
Some of the kanji on this list have more uses than just time,
year”).
Kanji English Meaning Onyomi Kunyomi JLPT N5 Vocab with Kanji
and chichi. But when talking to your parents, they would be kaa
魚 fish gyo sakana 魚 (fish)
ん). These kanji also change when used for grandparents, aunts,
and uncles. Just be on the lookout. You’ll have to memorize them
on a word-by-word basis.
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reads as ten when combined with other kanji, like 喫茶店. On its
own, it’s mise. It’s the same with 外: gai describes something
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学 school, learning gaku mana(bu) 大学 (university)
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The most important onyomi readings that may pop up would be for 聞
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