Level 4: Dakuten, Small Tsu & Long Vowels

What you’ll learn

58 new kana

• が ga
• ぎ gi
• ぐ gu
• げ ge
• ご go
• ざ za
• じ ji
• ず zu
• ぜ ze
• ぞ zo
• だ da
• ぢ ji
• づ zu
• で de
• ど do
• ば ba
• び bi
• ぶ bu
• べ be
• ぼ bo
• ぱ pa
• ぴ pi
• ぷ pu
• ぺ pe
• ぽ po
• きゃ kya
• きゅ kyu
• きょ kyo
• しゃ sha
• しゅ shu
• しょ sho
• ちゃ cha
• ちゅ chu
• ちょ cho
• にゃ nya
• にゅ nyu
• にょ nyo
• ひゃ hya
• ひゅ hyu
• ひょ hyo
• みゃ mya
• みゅ myu
• みょ myo
• りゃ rya
• りゅ ryu
• りょ ryo
• ぎゃ gya
• ぎゅ gyu
• ぎょ gyo
• じゃ ja
• じゅ ju
• じょ jo
• びゃ bya
• びゅ byu
• びょ byo
• ぴゃ pya
• ぴゅ pyu
• ぴょ pyo

16 words

How it works

Two little marks and a little circle

Dakuten (two little marks) makes the sound voiced: か→が, さ→ざ, た→だ, は→ば (k→g, s→z, t→d, h→b). Handakuten (a little circle) only goes on the は row: は→ぱ (h→p). Odd ones: じ and ぢ both sound ji; ず and づ both sound zu. You’ll almost always write じ and ず.

• が · ga · か + two little marks
• ぱ · pa · は + a little circle

Small ゃ ゅ ょ: one beat

A small ゃ, ゅ or ょ melts into the kana before it: き + ょ = kyo, one beat. Write it small! Full size, it’s a separate beat with a different meaning: that’s this level’s hospital trap.

• きょ · kyo · 1 beat
• じ・しょ · ji-sho · 2 beats · dictionary
• で・ん・しゃ · de-n-sha · 3 beats · train

Small っ: a one-beat pause

A small っ is a one-beat pause: stop for a beat, then hit the next consonant. In rōmaji it doubles the consonant (before ch it becomes t: まっちゃ, matcha). It has no sound of its own, but it still takes a full beat.

• き・っ・て · kitte · 3 beats · postage stamp
• き・て · kite · 2 beats · come!

Long vowels

Add a vowel kana after the kana, usually the same vowel. But a long e is often written えい, and a long o is usually おう. The long vowel takes one extra beat.

• おばあさん · obāsan · grandmother · a + あ = ā
• えいご · eigo · English · written ei, usually said ē
• がっこう · gakkō · school · o + う = ō

The long ō exceptions

A few words write long ō as おお: learn these two first. Most long ō are おう: がっこう, りょこう, ぼうし.

• おおきい · ōkii · big
• とおい · tōi · far

The trap

Hospital or hair salon?

びょういん (byōin) has a small ょ: 4 beats, a hospital. びよういん (biyōin) has a big よ: 5 beats, a hair salon. Write the ょ big and you get a perm instead of a doctor.

• びょういん · byōin · 4 beats: hospital · small ょ
• びよういん · biyōin · 5 beats: hair salon · big よ

Mini test

5 questions. Get 4 right and the level’s mini test box ticks itself.

Homework for the comments

In the comments: write 3 words from this level with a small っ, a small ゃ ゅ ょ or a long vowel. From memory!

Example: きって、じしょ、ぼうし