Title: Japanese Hiragana And Katakana — LearnCoachAssist

Q: What are the two kana syllabaries used in modern Japanese?
A: Hiragana and katakana

Q: What is the primary use of hiragana?
A: Native Japanese words and grammatical particles

Q: What is the primary use of katakana?
A: Loanwords from other languages, foreign names, and onomatopoeia

Q: How many basic characters are in the hiragana syllabary?
A: 46

Q: How many basic characters are in the katakana syllabary?
A: 46

Q: What is the vowel set in the kana system?
A: a, i, u, e, o

Q: What is the first hiragana character and its sound?
A: あ (a)

Q: What is the first katakana character and its sound?
A: ア (a)

Q: What sound does い represent?
A: /i/ (the vowel "i")

Q: What sound does ウ represent?
A: /u/ (the vowel "u")

Q: What sound does え represent?
A: /e/ (the vowel "e")

Q: What sound does オ represent?
A: /o/ (the vowel "o")

Q: What is the hiragana for "ka"?
A: か

Q: What is the katakana for "ki"?
A: キ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ku"?
A: く

Q: What is the katakana for "ke"?
A: ケ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ko"?
A: こ

Q: What is the hiragana for "sa"?
A: さ

Q: What is the hiragana for "shi"?
A: し

Q: What is the katakana for "shi"?
A: シ

Q: What is the hiragana for "su"?
A: す

Q: What is the katakana for "se"?
A: セ

Q: What is the hiragana for "so"?
A: そ

Q: What is the katakana for "ta"?
A: タ

Q: What is the hiragana for "chi"?
A: ち

Q: What is the katakana for "chi"?
A: チ

Q: What is the hiragana for "tsu"?
A: つ

Q: What is the katakana for "tsu"?
A: ツ

Q: What is the hiragana for "te"?
A: て

Q: What is the hiragana for "to"?
A: と

Q: What is the hiragana for "na"?
A: な

Q: What is the katakana for "ni"?
A: ニ

Q: What is the hiragana for "nu"?
A: ぬ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ne"?
A: ね

Q: What is the hiragana for "no"?
A: の

Q: What is the katakana for "no"?
A: ノ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ha"?
A: は

Q: What is the katakana for "ha"?
A: ハ

Q: What is the hiragana for "hi"?
A: ひ

Q: What is the katakana for "hi"?
A: ヒ

Q: What is the hiragana for "fu"?
A: ふ

Q: What is the katakana for "fu"?
A: フ

Q: What is the hiragana for "he"?
A: へ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ho"?
A: ほ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ma"?
A: ま

Q: What is the katakana for "ma"?
A: マ

Q: What is the hiragana for "mi"?
A: み

Q: What is the katakana for "mu"?
A: ム

Q: What is the hiragana for "me"?
A: め

Q: What is the hiragana for "mo"?
A: も

Q: What is the hiragana for "ya"?
A: や

Q: What is the katakana for "ya"?
A: ヤ

Q: What is the hiragana for "yu"?
A: ゆ

Q: What is the hiragana for "yo"?
A: よ

Q: What is the katakana for "yo"?
A: ヨ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ra"?
A: ら

Q: What is the katakana for "ra"?
A: ラ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ri"?
A: り

Q: What is the katakana for "ri"?
A: リ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ru"?
A: る

Q: What is the katakana for "ru"?
A: ル

Q: What is the hiragana for "re"?
A: れ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ro"?
A: ろ

Q: What is the katakana for "ro"?
A: ロ

Q: What is the hiragana for "wa"?
A: わ

Q: What is the katakana for "wa"?
A: ワ

Q: What is the kana for the particle "wo" (pronounced /o/)?
A: を

Q: What is the kana for the standalone vowel "n"?
A: ん (hiragana), ン (katakana)

Q: What is dakuten (or ten-ten)?
A: A pair of small marks (゛) that voice an unvoiced consonant, e.g. か → が

Q: What is handakuten (or maru)?
A: A small circle (゜) used only on the H-row to convert "h" to "p", e.g. は → ぱ

Q: What does adding dakuten to か (ka) produce?
A: が (ga)

Q: What does adding dakuten to さ (sa) produce?
A: ざ (za)

Q: What does adding dakuten to た (ta) produce?
A: だ (da)

Q: What does adding dakuten to は (ha) produce?
A: ば (ba)

Q: What does adding handakuten to は (ha) produce?
A: ぱ (pa)

Q: What is the voiced katakana for "ka"?
A: ガ

Q: What is the voiced katakana for "sa"?
A: ザ

Q: What is the voiced katakana for "ta"?
A: ダ

Q: What is the voiced katakana for "ha"?
A: バ

Q: What is the half-voiced katakana for "ha"?
A: パ

Q: What are yōon (combination kana)?
A: Kana formed by combining a consonant with a small や, ゆ, or よ to represent a palatalized sound

Q: What is the hiragana for "kya"?
A: きゃ

Q: What is the katakana for "kya"?
A: キャ

Q: What is the hiragana for "sha"?
A: しゃ

Q: What is the katakana for "sha"?
A: シャ

Q: What is the hiragana for "cha"?
A: ちゃ

Q: What is the katakana for "cha"?
A: チャ

Q: What is the hiragana for "nya"?
A: にゃ

Q: What is the katakana for "nya"?
A: ニャ

Q: What is the hiragana for "hya"?
A: ひゃ

Q: What is the katakana for "hya"?
A: ヒャ

Q: What is the hiragana for "mya"?
A: みゃ

Q: What is the hiragana for "rya"?
A: りゃ

Q: What is the hiragana for "gya"?
A: ぎゃ

Q: What is the hiragana for "ja"?
A: じゃ

Q: What is the hiragana for "bya"?
A: びゃ

Q: What is the hiragana for "pya"?
A: ぴゃ

Q: What is a sokuon?
A: A small つ (hiragana) or ッ (katakana) indicating a geminate (double) consonant

Q: What is the katakana long vowel mark?
A: ー (chōonpu)

Q: What does the chōonpu do?
A: Extends the preceding vowel sound, used to mark long vowels in katakana loanwords

Q: What is the katakana middle dot used for?
A: ・中点 (nakaguro), used to separate foreign words or names written in katakana

Q: Why is "coffee" written コーヒー in katakana?
A: コ + ー (long o) + ヒ + ー (long i) = "kōhī"

Q: Why is "America" written アメリカ?
A: ア + メ + リ + カ, each syllable mapped to a katakana

Q: Why is the particle "to" written とは not トは?
A: The particle "to" is hiragana と because particles are native grammatical elements; katakana ト is for foreign words

Q: How do you write "France" in katakana?
A: フランス

Q: How do you write the name "Tokyo" in hiragana?
A: とうきょう

Q: What is the only kana written for a now-silent historical "wi" and "we" in modern Japanese?
A: ゐ (wi) and ゑ (we) — historical only

Q: Which kana row contains ま み む め も?
A: The M-row (ま行)

Q: Which kana row contains や ゆ よ?
A: The Y-row (や行) — only three characters in modern Japanese

Q: Which kana row contains ら り る れ ろ?
A: The R-row (ら行)

Q: What is the only consonant that does NOT pair with the full vowel set in basic kana?
A: "y" — it only pairs with a, u, o in modern usage (plus historical i, e)

Q: What is a common mistake learners make with シ (shi) vs ツ (tsu)?
A: Confusing their stroke order: シ has two strokes flowing leftward, ツ has one short left stroke and a longer right curve

Q: What is a common confusion between フ (fu) and ウ (u) in katakana?
A: フ is a small hook curving back to the left; ウ has a longer stroke bending down — beginners miswrite one for the other

Q: What is a common confusion between ソ (so) and ン (n) in katakana?
A: Both are small marks; orientation of the stroke vs. curl distinguishes them

Q: How many morae does the word とうきょう have?
A: Four — と・う・きょ・う (きょう is one mora written with two kana)

Q: What is "furigana"?
A: Small kana printed above or beside kanji to indicate its reading, usually written in hiragana

Q: Which kana would you use to write furigana for the kanji 食べる?
A: Hiragana — たべる

Q: What does the kana ヂ represent?
A: A voiced variant of チ (chi), pronounced /ji/; the standard form is ジ

Q: What is the reading of ず in みず (water)?
A: /mizu/

Q: What is the reading of ぶ in ぶた (pig)?
A: /buta/