Hiragana & Katakana
Japanese has two kana alphabets — 46 basic signs each — for the same set of sounds. Hiragana writes native words and grammar; katakana writes foreign loanwords and names. Learn these and you can read every reading shown under the example sentences.
Hiragana ひらがな
Native words, particles, verb endings.
Katakana カタカナ
Loanwords, foreign names, emphasis.
Each row shares a consonant; each column a vowel (a·i·u·e·o). A few historical slots (yi, ye, wu…) were never used and are left blank. Small marks (゛ ゜) turn k→g, s→z, t→d, h→b/p — those dakuten rows aren't shown here to keep the chart to the essentials.
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