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Hiragana · h row

は (ha): hiragana stroke order and pronunciation

は is the hiragana for ha, the a sound of the h row. It is written with 3 strokes. Its katakana twin is ハ (ha).

Back to the hiragana chart
は
123
Romaji
ha
Strokes
3
Listen
Play ha

How to write は, stroke by stroke

Each frame adds one stroke. The number sits where the stroke starts; strokes run left to right and top to bottom.

  1. 1stroke 1
  2. 12stroke 2
  3. 123stroke 3

How to say ha

Tip: like 'ha' in 'hot'

In words

The course does not attach an example word to は when it introduces it; you will meet it in the lessons that follow.

The h row

The h row keeps one consonant and runs through the five vowels, so は differs from its neighbours only in the vowel. Reading the row as a set fixes the pattern:

Course words written with は

6 words from the beginner word lists use は. Each links to the list it belongs to.

は in a sentence

From the beginner stories, where は turns up in running text rather than on its own.

Rules that involve は

Dakuten — the voicing mark

Two small strokes (゛) on a kana voice it: the shape stays the same but your vocal cords buzz. You'll meet 5 of these in the k→g row.

  • か → がvoiced k becomes g
  • き → ぎvoiced k becomes g

Handakuten — the circle mark

A small circle (゜) on h-kana flips it to a p-sound — same shape, different breath. Only h-kana take the circle; you'll meet 5 of them in this row.

  • は → ぱh-kana with ゜ becomes p
  • ほ → ぽh-kana with ゜ becomes p

Built from は

With dakuten and handakuten

  • ばba
  • ぱpa

The same sound in katakana

Stroke-order data from KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.

Practice this in Open Lingo

The Open Lingo Japanese course teaches は with tracing practice, a listening drill and spaced review, then uses it in real words within the same lesson.

Practice this in Open Lingo

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