Quick  Japanese alphabet guide 

1. HIRAGANA (ひらがな)

• Phonetic alphabet for Japanese syllables.
• 46 basic symbols + diacritics + combinations.
• Used for grammar endings, words without kanji, children’s texts.

Diacritics (voiced sounds):

• が, ぎ, ぐ, げ, ご (ga, gi, gu, ge, go)
• ざ, じ, ず, ぜ, ぞ (za, ji, zu, ze, zo)
• だ, ぢ, づ, で, ど (da, ji, zu, de, do)
• ば, び, ぶ, べ, ぼ (ba, bi, bu, be, bo)
• ぱ, ぴ, ぷ, ぺ, ぽ (pa, pi, pu, pe, po)

Combinations with small ya/yu/yo:

• きゃ (kya), きゅ (kyu), きょ (kyo)
• しゃ (sha), しゅ (shu), しょ (sho)
• ちゃ (cha), ちゅ (chu), ちょ (cho)

Example Words:

• さくら (sakura) – cherry blossom
• ねこ (neko) – cat
• たべる (taberu) – to eat

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2. KATAKANA (カタカナ)

• Phonetic alphabet (same sounds as hiragana)
• 46 basic symbols + diacritics
• Used for foreign words, onomatopoeia, brands, emphasis

Diacritics & combinations:

• ガ, ギ, グ, ゲ, ゴ (ga, gi, gu, ge, go)
• キャ (kya), シュ (shu), チョ (cho)

Example Words:

• コンピュータ (konpyūta) – computer
• ワンワン (wanwan) – woof-woof
• カメラ (kamera) – camera

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3. KANJI (漢字)

• Chinese-origin characters representing meaning.
• Thousands exist; ~1000–2000 common enough for daily use.
• Used for nouns, verb roots, adjective roots.

Examples:

• 水 (みず, mizu) – water
• 火 (ひ, hi) – fire
• 学 (がく, gaku) – study/learning
• 日本 (にほん, Nihon) – Japan

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4. WORD STRUCTURE

• Japanese words often: Kanji root + Hiragana ending
  Example:
• 食べる (たべる, taberu) – to eat
• 食 (た, ta) – kanji root “eat”
• べる (beru) – hiragana verb ending

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5. LEARNING TIPS

1. Learn Hiragana first for reading & writing.
2. Learn Katakana for foreign words & emphasis.
3. Gradually memorize Kanji (common ones first).
4. Practice reading aloud syllables, not single letters.