originally made by:
Dr01d3k4
Contents
Chapter I – Reading and Writing Japanese
Chapter II – Particles and Desu
Chapter III – Demonstratives
Chapter IV – Adjectives
Chapter V – Verbs
Chapter VI – Commands
Chapter VII – Connecting Sentences
Chapter VIII – Wanting and Needing
Chapter X - Can
Chapter I – Reading and Writing Japanese
Japanese is generally written in a 46 letter alphabet called ‘Hiragana’ (ひらがな), but for some words, you can use an ideographic symbol called a ‘Kanji’ (かんじ). There are 2000 of these so they won’t be explained in this guide. Modern words created in other languages that are then written in Japanese, are written in ‘Katakana’ (かたかな). These words include:
Hotel – Hoteru ホテル
Computer – Konpyuuta コンピュウタ
Pen – Pen ペン
Pronunciation
A – Ah (fAther)
I – Ee (bIt)
U – Oo (pUt)
E – Eh (rEd)
O – Oh (pOt)
This is a full table of the Hiragana and Katakana. The Romaji (Roman Character) is on the left, with the Hiragana on the middle and Katakana on the right.
Vowels
A あ ア
I い イ
U う ウ
E え エ
O お オ
The ‘K’s.
Ka かカ
Ki き キ
Ku く ク
Ke けケ
Ko こコ
The ‘S’s.
Sa さサ
Shi しシ
Su すス
Se せセ
So そソ
The ‘T’s.
Ta たタ
Chi ちチ
Tsu つツ
Te てテ
To とト
The ‘N’s.
Na なナ
Ni にニ
Nu ぬヌ
Ne ねネ
No のノ
The ‘H’s.
Ha はハ
Hi ひヒ
Fu ふフ
He へヘ
Ho ほホ
The ‘M’s.
Ma まマ
Mi みミ
Mu むム
Me めメ
Mo もモ
The ‘R’s – Japanese ‘R’s sound like a mix between an English ‘r’ and ‘l’.
Ra らラ
Ri りリ
Ru るル
Re れレ
Ro ろロ
The ‘Y’s.
Ya やヤ
Yu ゆイ
Yo よヨ
Using the ‘Y’s and a sound ending with ‘I’ from another set, you can create new sounds:
Kya きゃキャ
Kyu きゅキュ
Kyo きょキョ
Sha しゃシャ
Shu しゅシュ
Shoしょ ショ
Cha ちゃチャ
Chu ちゅチュ
Cho ちょチョ
Nya にゃニャ
Nyu にゅニュ
Nyo にょニョ
Hya ひゃヒャ
Hyu ひゅヒョ
Hyo ひょヒョ
Mya みゃミャ
Myu みゅミュ
Myo みょミョ
Rya りゃリャ
Ryu りゅリュ
Ryo りょリョ
Others
Wa わワ
N んン
Wo をヲ
Dakuten (だくてん)
Using a Dakuten on a symbol you can create another sound. Ka – Ga, Sa – Za, Ta – Da, Ha – Ba. A Dakuten looks like 2 lines in the top right corner of the symbol. The ‘H’s can also take a Handakuten ( はんだくてん) which looks like a little circle in the same place as the Dakuten but changes the Ha to a Pa.
The ‘G’s.
Ga がガ
Gi ぎギ
Guぐグ
Ge げゲ
Go ごゴ
The ‘Z’s.
Za ざザ
Ji じジ
Zuずズ
Zeぜゼ
Zoぞゾ
The ‘D’s.
Daだダ
Di ぢヂ
Duづヅ
Deでデ
Doどド
The ‘B’s.
Baばバ
Biびビ
Buぶブ
Beべベ
Boぼボ
The ‘P’s.
Paぱパ
Pi ぷピ
Puぷプ
Peぺペ
Poぽポ
All these sets (apart from the ‘D’s) can also take a symbol from the ‘Y’s and create the following:
Gyaぎゅギャ
Gyuぎゅギュ
Gyoぎょギョ
Ja じゃジャ
Ju じゅジュ
Jo じょジョ
Byaびゃビャ
Byuびゅビュ
Byoびょビョ
Pyaぴゃピャ
Pyuぴゅピュ
Pyoぴょピョ
Double Consonants
In Japanese, you will sometimes find a Double Consonant. This is where there is a slight pause in the pronunciation for the length of 1 syllable. They are written in Hiragana/Katakana as having a ‘tsu’ (つ/ツ) sound before them, unless the consonant being doubled is ‘N’, then it is written with ん/ン.
Long Vowels
These are written as either the vowel symbol twice or with a ‘ー after the vowel. This then changes the sound to take 2 syllables to say. If the sound is said as 1 syllable, it can sometimes mean a different thing.
Stomach – I (Ee)
Good – Ii (Eee)
House – Ie (Ee-eh)
No – Iie (Eee-eh)
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