Use Dakuten and voiced kana to read useful Japanese words and sentences. Some words are written in kana here for practice even when kanji is common.

The idea

Dakuten ゛ adds voicing: か becomes が, さ becomes ざ, た becomes だ, and は becomes ば; the same applies in katakana. し becomes じ (ji), and ち and つ become ぢ and づ, which often sound like じ and ず but occur in restricted spellings.

Patterns to compare
KanaReading (romaji)
か → がka → ga
さ → ざsa → za
し → じshi → ji
た → だta → da
は → ばha → ba
カ → ガka → ga
ハ → バha → ba

Examples

  • みずを飲のみます。I drink water.
  • りんごを買かいます。I buy an apple.
  • でんわをかけます。I make a phone call.
  • テレビを見みます。I watch television.
  • バスで駅えきへ行いきます。I go to the station by bus.
  • ゆきが降ふります。It is snowing.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

゛ has two short marks; ゜ is a circle. Sound alone does not always determine whether a word uses じ or ぢ, or ず or づ.

Try it yourself

  1. Fill the blank with one kana or mark: ＿ス (basu).

    Show answer or example answer

    バ

    Compare the written parts and reading: ハ + ゛ = バ；バ = ba.

  2. Fill the blank with one kana or mark: み＿ (mizu).

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    ず

    Compare the written parts and reading: す + ゛ = ず；ず = zu.

  3. Fill the blank with one kana or mark: りん＿ (ringo).

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    ご

    Compare the written parts and reading: こ + ゛ = ご；ご = go.

Use it today

Cover the chart, read two examples aloud and write one target word from memory. Compare its spelling and timing with the original.