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Hiragana · vowel row

う (u): hiragana stroke order and pronunciation

う is the hiragana for u, the third of the five vowels. It is written with 2 strokes. Its katakana twin is ウ (u).

Back to the hiragana chart
う
12
Romaji
u
Strokes
2
Listen
Play u

How to write う, 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

How to say u

Tip: like 'oo' in 'food', lips unrounded

う in a word

The course introduces う with うえ (above).

The five vowels

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

Course words written with う

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

う in a sentence

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

Rules that involve う

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 う

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 う 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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