Hiragana · n row
に (ni): hiragana stroke order and pronunciation
に is the hiragana for ni, the i sound of the n row. It is written with 3 strokes. Its katakana twin is ニ (ni).
- Romaji
- ni
- Strokes
- 3
- Listen
- Play ni
How to write に, 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 ni
Tip: like 'nee' in 'knee'
に in a word
The course introduces に with なに (what).
The n row
The n row keeps one consonant and runs through the five vowels, so に differs from its neighbours only in the vowel. Reading the row as a set fixes the pattern:
Course words written with に
6 words from the beginner word lists use に. Each links to the list it belongs to.
- に二nitwoNumbers
- にく肉nikumeatFood and drink vocabulary
- あに兄aniolder brotherFamily words
- よにん四人yo nin4 peopleFamily words
- とりにくとり肉torinikuchickenFood and drink vocabulary
- さんにん三人san nin3 peopleFamily words
に in a sentence
From the beginner stories, where に turns up in running text rather than on its own.
「にちようび？」
"Sunday?" from The day off
わたしも えきに いく。
I go to the station too. from The missing phone
Rules that involve に
Yōon — small kana combinations
A small や, ゆ, or ょ after an i-row kana blends them into one mora: one sound, two glyphs. The small kana never separates — it sticks to its neighbor.
- き + ゃ = きゃone blended sound
- き + ょ = きょone blended sound
Built from に
Combinations (yōon) with small ゃ ゅ ょ
- にゃnya
- にゅnyu
- にょnyo
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 に 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.