I can read and type a word with the two strokes, the circle, or a small っ, and keep the pause, which matters in Japanese as much as a sound.
Two strokes, a circle, and a pause
Two strokes, a circle, and a pause
The two strokes at the top right, dakuten, change the first sound of the mora: か → が, さ → ざ, た → だ, は → ば. Same character, different mora: かき (“persimmon”) and かぎ (“key”) are different words. The が row is always the hard g of “go”, also in ぎ and げ.
The は row also takes handakuten, the small circle: は → ぱ. It gives the sound [p]: さんぽ, てんぷら, えんぴつ.
じ and ぢ, ず and づ sound the same. You almost always write じ and ず; ぢ and づ appear in only a handful of words (つづく, “to continue”; はなぢ, “nosebleed”). You don't need to memorize them, just know that you can't tell them apart by ear.
A small っ before k, t, or p is a pause one mora long: きって (kitte) is three moras (き, pause, て). The mouth is already set for the next consonant and holds it, like the gap in “hot tub”. Before s and sh (ざっし) the hiss itself is held for a mora. English double letters (kitten, happy) are one short sound; っ is not: without it you get another word, きて.
Common mistakes:
• NOT [k] instead of [g] in かぎ — without the strokes it's “persimmon”.
• NOT きて instead of きって — a whole mora is lost.
• NOT “KIT-ee” for きって, like English “kitty”: the double t is a pause, not one short t.
Two strokes and a circle
The same character — a different first sound in the mora.
| Base character | Two strokes | Circle | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| か | が | — | かぎ (key) |
| さ | ざ | — | ざっし (magazine) |
| た | だ | — | まど (window): ど is from the だ row |
| は | ば | ぱ | さんぽ (a walk) |
How many moras in a word
One character, one mora — and every mora is the same length.
| Written form | How many moras | The rhythm |
|---|---|---|
| さかな | 3 | three equal beats |
| すいか | 3 | い is a mora of its own, not a glide |
| ねこ | 2 | both moras are equal |
| せかい | 3 | the final い isn't swallowed |
| ほん | 2 | ん is a full mora |
| きって | 3 | the っ pause is a mora too |
Lesson notes
Two strokes, a circle, and a pause
The two strokes at the top right, dakuten, change the first sound of the mora: か → が, さ → ざ, た → だ, は → ば. Same character, different mora: かき (“persimmon”) and かぎ (“key”) are different words. The が row is always the hard g of “go”, also in ぎ and げ.
The は row also takes handakuten, the small circle: は → ぱ. It gives the sound [p]: さんぽ, てんぷら, えんぴつ.
じ and ぢ, ず and づ sound the same. You almost always write じ and ず; ぢ and づ appear in only a handful of words (つづく, “to continue”; はなぢ, “nosebleed”). You don't need to memorize them, just know that you can't tell them apart by ear.
A small っ before k, t, or p is a pause one mora long: きって (kitte) is three moras (き, pause, て). The mouth is already set for the next consonant and holds it, like the gap in “hot tub”. Before s and sh (ざっし) the hiss itself is held for a mora. English double letters (kitten, happy) are one short sound; っ is not: without it you get another word, きて.
Common mistakes:
• NOT [k] instead of [g] in かぎ — without the strokes it's “persimmon”.
• NOT きて instead of きって — a whole mora is lost.
• NOT “KIT-ee” for きって, like English “kitty”: the double t is a pause, not one short t.
How to type Japanese on a keyboard
You add a Japanese keyboard once; the table shows where. It's a technical step, not language knowledge.
You type in romaji, and the keyboard turns it into kana: ka → か, shi (or si) → し, chi → ち, tsu (or tu) → つ, fu (or hu) → ふ, ji (or zi) → じ, du → づ.
Type ん with two letters, nn: a single n before a vowel joins that vowel and gives a different mora. っ comes from doubling the next consonant: kitte → きって, zasshi → ざっし.
As particles, は, へ, and を are typed as they're written: ha, he, wo.
Our checker also turns romaji into kana, so an answer typed in romaji counts. Type what the kana spells: kitte, not kite. The answer is always shown in kana; that's the form to remember.