Complete Hiragana Workbook

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

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 2

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

Y ō-on
Daku -on
3. Hiragana writing worksheet

3-1. 46 Basic Hiragana

a

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
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
かさ
ka sa (umbrella)
おかし
snack)
o ka shi (
おすし

sushi)
o o sushi(
せかい
world)
se ka i (
うそ
u so (lie)
ta
chi

tsu
te
to
ta chi tsu te to
たこ
ta ko (octopus)
けち
ke chi (stingy)

つくえ
desk)
tsu ku e (
たすけて
–in emergency
ta su ke te (help! )
とけい
clock / watch
to ke i ( )
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
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)
ha
hi
fu
he
ho

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)
ma

mi
mu
me
mo
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
ya yu yo

ゆき
yu 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
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

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.
ささききりりむむららふふ
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.

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”)
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)

da あ
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”
Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved
31
ba
bi
bu
be
bo
pa
pi

pu
pe
po
ha hi fu he ho
ba bi bu be bo
pa pi pu pe po
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.

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 i i e
→ /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)
5. もて /mo･te/
1. きて /ki･te/

6. もって /mo･t･
2. きって /ki･t･te/
te/
3. けして /ke･shi･te/ 4. けっ 7. かて /ka･te/

して /ke･s･shite/ 8. かって /ka･t･te/
いっ In vertical
い writing, the small っ is written in the
か right half In
っ horizontal writing, of the square.
the small っ is
か
written in the lower half of the square.
Let’s practise writing!
きっぷ
kippu (ticket)
ざっし
zasshi (magazine)
4-3. Yō-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, 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)
きう
ょ
kyou *pronounce “kyō” –long vowel- (today)
じう
ゅしょ
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.
を
にほんごべんきょうします。 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

Complete Hiragana Workbook

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Complete Hiragana Workbook

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.

com All rights reserved 1

2. Hiragana Chart ………………4

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

4. Pronunciation Rules ………………….35

5. Hiragana in sentences ………………..42

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 2

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

Hiragana has 46 basic writing characters and 58 variations and combinations.

Step 1 Print out all of this Hiragana Workbook.

1-2. Hiragana at a glance

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

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 3

1-3. Hiragana writing tips

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

to release the pen pressure.

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 4

3. Hiragana writing worksheet

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 5

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 6

Let’s practise writing words!

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 7

Let’s practise writing words!

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 9

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 10

Let’s practise writing words!

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 11

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 12

Let’s practise writing words!

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 13

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 14

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 15

Let’s practise writing words!

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 16

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 17

Let’s practise writing words!

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 18

Let’s practise writing words!

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 19

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 20

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 21

Let’s practise writing words!

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 22

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 23

(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.

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 24

1. Please fill in the chart.

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 25

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 26

10. yasai (vegetable)

* The answers are on the last page.

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 27

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 28

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 29

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

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

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved

Copyright © 2010 www.LearnJapanese123.com All rights reserved 32

わたしはがくせいです。watashi wa gakusē desu.

きのうはあめでした。kinō wa ame deshita.

えきへいきます。 eki e ikimasu.

へやへもどります。 heya e modorimasu.

おすしをたべます。 osushi o tabemasu.

1. わたしはがくせいです。 I’m a student.

2. あしたびょういんへいきます。

3. まいにちやさいをたべます。