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Hiragana · vowel row

お (o): hiragana stroke order and pronunciation

お is the hiragana for o, the fifth of the five vowels. It is written with 3 strokes. Its katakana twin is オ (o).

Back to the hiragana chart
お
123
Romaji
o
Strokes
3
Listen
Play o

How to write お, 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 o

Tip: like 'o' in 'or'

お in a word

The course introduces お with あおい (blue).

The five vowels

Every other kana is one of these five vowels with a consonant in front, so お is the sound you hear at the end of the whole o column. Read the five together until each is automatic:

Course words written with お

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

お in a sentence

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

Rules that involve お

Held vowels — two beats, one sound

When a vowel is followed by the same vowel — or お by う, and え by い — you HOLD it for two beats instead of saying it twice. りょうり is 'ryōri', not 'ryo-u-ri'. せんせい is 'sensē'. The extra kana is the length mark; it is not a separate syllable.

  • りょうりcooking (おう is a held 'o')
  • せんせいteacher (えい is a held 'e')

Built from お

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 お 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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