Japanese writing systems for Spanish readers

The idea

Hiragana usually writes grammatical endings and particles, such as を and ます. Katakana often writes loanwords such as パン, originally from Portuguese pão. Kanji often represents word roots: 本 means book, while 読 is part of 読みます. Furigana gives a reading above kanji; it is a guide, not a fourth script.

Examples

• 私わたしはパンを食たべます。I eat bread.
• 猫ねこがいます。There is a cat.
• コーヒーを飲のみます。I drink coffee.
• 本ほんを読よみます。I read a book.
• 学校がっこうへ行いきます。I go to school.
• テレビを見みます。I watch television.

Watch out

Do not treat each kana as a Spanish letter: most kana represent a vowel or a consonant plus vowel. Script roles overlap, and native words can also appear in katakana.

Try it yourself

1. パンはどれですか。（パン／ぱん）

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   パン

   パン is the conventional katakana spelling of bread.

2. 「ほん」を漢字かんじで書かいてください。

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   本

   本 is the kanji spelling of ほん, book.

3. 本ほん＿読よみます。（を／オ）

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   を

   を is the hiragana particle marking the object; オ is katakana.

Use it today

Find all three scripts in 私はパンを食べます, then read the sentence aloud.