Recognise は ひ ふ へ ほ in Hiragana, then read them in useful words and sentences. Each kana has a sound; the table links the written form to its reading.

The idea

は ひ ふ へ ほ are ha, hi, fu, he and ho. For ふ, let air pass gently between both lips. Read each kana in a whole word, such as はな (hana) and ふね (fune). Some words are written in kana here for practice; everyday Japanese often writes them with kanji.

Patterns to compare
KanaReading (romaji)
はha
ひhi
ふfu
へhe
ほho

Examples

  • はなを見みます。I look at flowers.
  • ひるに会あいます。We meet at noon.
  • ふねが来きます。A boat is coming.
  • へやは広ひろいです。The room is spacious.
  • ほんを読よみます。I read a book.
  • ひこうきが飛とびます。A plane flies.

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

Watch out

When は marks the topic it is pronounced wa, and the direction particle へ is pronounced e. In ordinary words such as はな and へや, they are ha and he.

Try it yourself

  1. Fill the blank with one Hiragana character: ＿な (hana).

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    は

    は represents ha; はな is read hana.

  2. Fill the blank with one Hiragana character: ＿ね (fune).

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    ふ

    ふ represents fu; ふね is read fune.

  3. Fill the blank with one Hiragana character: ＿や (heya).

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    へ

    へ represents he; へや is read heya.

  4. Write hon in Hiragana.

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    ほん

    ほん is read hon: ほ = ho; ん = n.

Use it today

Cover the table and read two example sentences aloud. Write one word from memory, then check each target kana against the table.