Hiragana · s row
さ (sa): hiragana stroke order and pronunciation
さ is the hiragana for sa, the a sound of the s row. It is written with 3 strokes. Its katakana twin is サ (sa).
- Romaji
- sa
- Strokes
- 3
- Listen
- Play sa
How to write さ, 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 sa
Tip: like 'sa' in 'salsa'
さ in a word
The course introduces さ with あさ (morning).
The s row
The s row keeps one consonant and runs through the five vowels, so さ differs from its neighbours only in the vowel. Reading the row as a set fixes the pattern:
Course words written with さ
6 words from the beginner word lists use さ. Each links to the list it belongs to.
- さん三santhreeNumbers
- さかな魚sakanafishFood and drink vocabulary
- やさい野菜yasaivegetableFood and drink vocabulary
- くださいkudasaipleaseGreetings and polite phrases
- さんぜんsanzenthree thousandNumbers
- さんにん三人san nin3 peopleFamily words
さ in a sentence
From the beginner stories, where さ turns up in running text rather than on its own.
「ごめんなさい！」
"I'm so sorry!" from The missing phone
「これ、ください。」
"This one, please." from At the shop
Rules that involve さ
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
Built from さ
With dakuten
- ざza
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 さ 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.