Hiragana · m row
ま (ma): hiragana stroke order and pronunciation
ま is the hiragana for ma, the a sound of the m row. It is written with 3 strokes. Its katakana twin is マ (ma).
- Romaji
- ma
- Strokes
- 3
- Listen
- Play ma
How to write ま, stroke by stroke
Each frame adds one stroke. The number sits where the stroke starts; strokes run left to right and top to bottom.
- stroke 1
- stroke 2
- stroke 3
How to say ma
Tip: like 'ma' in 'mama'
ま in a word
The course introduces ま with うま (horse).
The m row
The m row keeps one consonant and runs through the five vowels, so ま differs from its neighbours only in the vowel. Reading the row as a set fixes the pattern:
Course words written with ま
6 words from the beginner word lists use ま. Each links to the list it belongs to.
- まん万manten thousandNumbers
- たまご卵tamagoeggFood and drink vocabulary
- たべますtabemasueatFood and drink vocabulary
- のみますnomimasudrinkFood and drink vocabulary
- すみませんsumimasenExcuse meGreetings and polite phrases
- はじめましてhajimemashiteNice to meet youGreetings and polite phrases
ま in a sentence
From the beginner stories, where ま turns up in running text rather than on its own.
「すみません。」
"Excuse me." from At the shop
トムは まだです。
Still no Tom. from At the airport
Built from ま
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 ま with tracing practice, a listening drill and spaced review, then uses it in real words within the same lesson.
Keep going
- ChartKatakana chartAll 46 basic katakana plus voiced and yōon combinations, with romaji, stroke-order diagrams, example loanwords and audio.
- Word listGreetings and polite phrasesEssential Japanese greetings and polite phrases for beginners, with hiragana, romaji, meaning and audio, taken from the Open Lingo course.
- Word listNumbersJapanese numbers for beginners: Sino-Japanese いち, に, さん, the native ひとつ, ふたつ counting set, and hundreds, thousands and 万, with audio.
- ToolNumbers 1 to 100 and converterJapanese numbers 0 to 100 in kana, kanji and romaji, a converter up to 999,999, and the rules for 4, 7, 9, sound-changing hundreds and 万.