Hiragana は-row through ん

What You Will Learn in This Unit

In this unit you will read and write the hiragana of the は-row, ま-row, や-row, ら-row, and わ-row, along with ん. You will learn why the particles は, へ, and を are read with different sounds inside words, and you will distinguish characters that look alike. After finishing this unit, you will be able to read words such as はな, やま, and ほん using kana alone.

Sounds of the は行, ま行, and や行

The は行 consists of は (ha), ひ (hi), ふ (fu), へ (he), and ほ (ho). Read them as h-type consonants, but note that ふ sounds different from the Korean syllable 후. ふ is produced by keeping the lips apart and letting air flow through a slightly open mouth, so you must not touch the lower lip to the upper teeth as you would for the English f.

The ま行 is read with the consonant m. The や行 has only three characters, because the い-row and え-row characters い and え are omitted from it, so you only need to memorize や, ゆ, and よ.

Sounds of the ら行, わ行, and ん

The ら行 is ら (ra), り (ri), る (ru), れ (re), and ろ (ro). It is a flap made by lightly touching the tip of the tongue behind the upper gum and then releasing it, and it is similar to the Korean ㄹ.

The わ行 is わ (wa), を (wo), and ん (n). わ is read as [와]. を is never used inside words and appears only as a particle, which will be explained again in the section on particles.

ん is a nasal sound of one beat with no vowel. When it appears at the end of a word, it sounds like the Korean final consonant ㄴ. ほん has two beats, because ほ and ん each take one beat.