Hiragana 4 is the fourth skill (assuming read left to right) in the Japanese language course. It has seven lessons and teaches the more complex hiragana characters, completing your stud of hiragana.
Alphabet notes[]
Dakuten (゛)[]
In the first four lessons you will learn hiragana characters with dakuten: ゛. This changes the pronunciation of the character as shown in the table below:
| Sound | Sound with ゛ | Example |
|---|---|---|
| k | g | か (ka) → が (ga) |
| s | z | さ (sa) → ざ (za), し (shi) → じ (ji)* |
| t | d | た (ta) → だ (da), つ (tsu) → づ (zu)* |
| h | b | は (ha) → ば (ba) |
Handakuten (゜)[]
Handakuten is taught in lesson 5 and changes the pronunciation of the h-characters to p-characters as shown in the table below:
| Sound | Sound with ゜ | Example |
|---|---|---|
| h | p | は (ha) → ぱ (pa) |
The small characters (ゃ, ゅ, ょ)[]
Lesson 6 teaches the small characters which change the pronunciation of the word by shortening the sound as shown in the table below.
| Big や-ゆ-よ | Small ゃ-ゅ-ょ |
|---|---|
| きや (kiya) | きゃ (kya) |
| きゆ (kiyu) | きゅ (kyu) |
| きよ (kiyo) | きょ (kyo) |
Small っ[]
Lesson 7 teaches the small っ. When placed between two Hiragana characters, it doubles the letter right after っ and introduces a short pause between two sounds a shown in the table below:
| Without っ | With っ |
|---|---|
| きて (kite) | きって (kitte) |
| もと (moto) | もっと (motto) |
| あさり (asari) | あっさり (assari) |
Lessons[]
Lesson 1[]
- が = "ga"
- ぎ = "gi"
- ぐ = "gu"
- げ = "ge"
- ご = "go"
- まんが = manga
- ぎんこう (ginkou) = bank
Lesson 2[]
- ざ = "za"
- じ = "ji"
- ず = "zu"
- ぜ = "ze"
- ぞ = "zo"
- えもじ = emoji
- ちず (chizu) = map
- かぜ (kaze) = wind
Lesson 3[]
- だ = "da"
- ぢ = "ji"
- づ = "zu"
- で = "de"
- ど = "do"
- くだもの (kudamono) = fruit
- でんわ (denwa) = phone
Lesson 4[]
- ば = "ba"
- び = "bi"
- ぶ = "bu"
- べ = "be"
- ぼ = "bo"
- かばん (kaban) = bag
- べんとう (bentou) = bento/lunchbox
Lesson 5[]
- ぱ = "pa"
- ぴ = "pi"
- ぷ = "pu"
- ぺ = "pe"
- ぽ = "po"
- えんぴつ (enpitsu) = pencil
- てんぷら = tempura
Lesson 6[]
- きゅ = "kyu"
- きょ = "kyo"
- ちゃ = "cha"
- きゅう (kyuu) = nine
- きょう (kyou) = today
- おちゃ (ocha) = green tea
Lesson 7[]
- きっぷ (kippu) = ticket
- がっこう (gakkou) = school
- なっとう (nattou) = fermented soybeans
- ひらがな = hiragana
References[]
Duolingo Lesson: www.duolingo.com/skill/ja/Hiragana-4
