Japanese Hiragana Word List for Beginners: 85 Words That Drill Every Row

How to use this list

Work through one group at a time and do three things with it. First, read the hiragana column aloud with the Reading column visible, so you connect shape and sound. Second, cover the Reading column and read again, slower, until every word comes out right. Third, read the example sentences and notice how the words sit next to particles like wa, o, ga and ni, which you will read thousands of times.

Every group names the kana rows it drills. If a row gives you trouble, stay on that group an extra day. Voiced sounds with dakuten, the small っ that doubles a consonant and long vowels written with an extra あ, い, う, え or お are introduced gradually, so by the last group you will have met every device hiragana uses.

Greetings and everyday words: the あ and か rows

Greetings are the natural first group because you use them before you know any grammar. They lean heavily on the あ, か and さ rows, and they introduce two things at once: the long vowels in ohayō and arigatō, written with an extra う, and the small っ in itterasshai. Notice that konnichiwa and konbanwa end in は read as wa, because that は is historically a particle.

Food and drink: the さ and た rows

Food words are short, concrete and constantly on labels, so they are worth learning early. This group drills the さ row, including す and そ, and the た row with its irregular readings chi and tsu. It also introduces dakuten: さけ without marks is sake, the drink or salmon, and ごはん, たまご and くだもの all use voiced sounds. Many of these words carry the polite prefix o in speech, as in ocha and ogohan, which is written お.

Home and things around you: the な, は and ま rows

Objects at home are the easiest words to practise because you can label them. This group leans on the な, は and ま rows, and it brings in the は row's voiced and half-voiced forms: ふ becomes ぶ or ぷ, and へ becomes べ or ぺ. Beginners often mix up ま and も, and は and ほ; the words here put them side by side so the difference sticks.

Body and people: the や, ら and わ rows

Body parts and words for people are short, often one or two kana, so they build reading speed quickly. This group drills the や, ら and わ rows, which have fewer kana and are learned last on most charts. It also uses ち in tomodachi and ふ in fūfu, a married couple, to keep the た and は rows warm.

Everyday verbs: dictionary forms and the る ending

Verbs are listed in the dictionary form, which is how you will look them up and how they appear before plain-form grammar. Reading them teaches the る, う, く, す, つ, む endings and the polite masu forms in the sentences. This group revisits every row and adds the small っ in the te forms, as in matte and itte.

Common adjectives: long vowels and the い ending

Adjectives ending in い are where long vowels and repeated kana show up most: ōkii has both a long o written おお and a doubled i, chiisai has a long i, and oishii, atarashii and kawaii all end in a doubled い. Reading them fluently is good practice for noticing a doubled kana at the end of a word. This group also includes いい, good, whose irregular past form yokatta is worth learning now.

A ten-minute reading routine and the mistakes to avoid

A routine beats a marathon. Spend two minutes reading one group aloud, three minutes reading it with the romaji covered, three minutes writing the hardest words, and two minutes on the sentences. Rotate through the six groups over a week and start again. By the third rotation most words will read at a glance.

The mistakes to watch for are the same for almost every beginner. Reading through the romaji instead of the kana, which feels productive and teaches nothing; skipping long vowels, so ōkii becomes oki; missing the small っ, so matte becomes mate; and mixing up the classic look-alike pairs ぬ and め, わ and ね, さ and ち, る and ろ. When one pair keeps tripping you, find two words in this list that contain them and read those words side by side until the difference is obvious.

• Two minutes: read one group aloud with the Reading column visible
• Three minutes: cover the Reading column and read again, slowly
• Three minutes: write the six hardest words from memory
• Two minutes: say the example sentences without looking