Hiragana · n row
ね (ne): hiragana stroke order and pronunciation
ね is the hiragana for ne, the e sound of the n row. It is written with 2 strokes. Its katakana twin is ネ (ne).
- Romaji
- ne
- Strokes
- 2
- Listen
- Play ne
How to write ね, 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
How to say ne
Tip: like 'ne' in 'net'
ね in a word
The course introduces ね with ねこ (cat).
The n row
The n row keeps one consonant and runs through the five vowels, so ね differs from its neighbours only in the vowel. Reading the row as a set fixes the pattern:
Course words written with ね
2 words from the beginner word lists use ね. Each links to the list it belongs to.
- あね姉aneolder sisterFamily words
- おねがいしますonegaishimasuPleaseGreetings and polite phrases
ね in a sentence
From the beginner stories, where ね turns up in running text rather than on its own.
くるまの なかで、ぼくは ねる。
In the car, I sleep. from The trip I didn't want
かばんに おかねが きゅうひゃくえん あります。
I have nine hundred yen in my bag. from The expensive pen
Built from ね
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 ね 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.