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

The idea

Read from left to right and group kana into words rather than guessing from a single character. Count ん, small っ and long vowels as beats, but read きゃ as one combined beat. Particles such as を and は mark grammatical relationships; は as a topic particle is pronounced wa.

Patterns to compare
KanaReading (romaji)
りんごringo
きってkitte
でんわdenwa
おちゃocha
コーヒーkōhī
スーパーsūpā

Examples

  • りんごを買かいます。I buy an apple.
  • 私わたしは家いえでおちゃを飲のみます。I drink tea at home.
  • きってを買かいます。I buy a postage stamp.
  • スーパーへ行いきます。I go to the supermarket.
  • でんわをかけます。I make a phone call.
  • コーヒーを飲のみます。I drink coffee.

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

Watch out

Do not pause between every printed character or merge a particle into the preceding word. Kana-only practice spellings may normally be written with kanji.

Try it yourself

  1. Write in hiragana: ringo.

    Show answer or example answer

    りんご

    Compare the written parts and reading: り + ん + ご = ringo.

  2. Write in hiragana: kitte.

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    きって

    Compare the written parts and reading: き + っ + て = kitte.

  3. Write in katakana: pan.

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    パン

    Compare the written parts and reading: パ + ン = pan.

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.