< Japanese < Kana < Lessons < Hiragana

Hiragana: [ a ] [ ka ] [ sa ] [ ta ] [ na ] [ ha ] [ ma ] [ ya ] [ ra ] [ wa, wo, n ] [ ゐ and ゑ (ancient hiragana in disuse) ]
Katakana: [ a ] [ ka ] [ sa ] [ ta ] [ na ] [ ha ] [ ma ] [ ya ] [ ra ] [ wa, wo, n ] [ ヰ and ヱ (ancient katakana in disuse) ]

In this lesson you are going to learn how to read and write な、に、ぬ、ね、の.

Brush Stroke:
Sound:

na

Mnemonic:
  • The cross shaped figure just knocked (na) over something.
  • A child cries after being told 'Nah, you can't play with us'.
  • A cross, dash and an alpha sign.
  • The cross shaped snake charmer at left throws a bit of food to the snake coiled in the middle. The snake thinks "Nah" and doesn't catch it.
Example:
  • なにか (nanika) something
  • なか (naka) inside, middle, among
  • なる (naru) to become
Brush Stroke:
Sound:

ni

Mnemonic:
  • It looks sort of like a knee (when you bend your leg)
Example:
  • にる (niru) to resemble, to be similar
  • にく (niku) meat
  • にんげん (ningen) human being
Brush Stroke:
Sound:

nu

Mnemonic:
  • Looks like a bowl of soup with a chopstick and noodles (nu) spilling out.
  • A way to remember the difference between ぬ (nu) and ね (ne) is that ぬ is the one with the u shape (it's actually more of a v) near the center of the character.
Example:
  • ぬるい (nurui) lukewarm, tepid
  • ぬぐ (nugu) to take off (clothing)
  • ぬれる (nureru) to get wet
Brush Stroke:
Sound:

ne

Mnemonic:
  • It looks like the letters 't' and 'e' with the e upside down. Add an n and you get "ten". Reverse that and you get "net" (ne).
  • One way to remember this is to rotate the 'e' of 'ne' until it's upside down then move it under arch on the 'n', merge the right sides of both letters together and hoist a mast (+) to signal your success.
Example:
  • ねん (nen) year
  • ねぎ (negi) spring (green) onion
  • ねだん (nedan) price, cost
Brush Stroke:
Sound:

no

Mnemonic:
  • の is similar to the forbidden traffic symbol. Which is the main word for forbidden: NO.
  • の looks like both an n and an o morphed together into one character. It is n-shaped, but has the roundedness of an o.
Example:
  • の (no) of; to
  • のう(nou) Nou play; brain, memory
  • のる (noru) to ride, to board
  • のうみん (noumin) farmer
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