Ga Gi Gu

Hiragana 2

Chapter 1 · Ga Gi Gu

🌸 Two Tiny Dots — ゛とがぎぐ

In Hiragana 1 you learned all 46 basic characters. This course adds the rest of the everyday sounds, and it is easier than it sounds: every new character is a character you already know with a small mark added. Today we meet the first mark, ゛ (dakuten, "two dots"), and use it on the K row to make が (ga), ぎ (gi) and ぐ (gu). Romaji is shown for everything.

〰️ What the Dakuten Does — 濁点

The dakuten is two short strokes at the top right of a character. It changes the consonant from unvoiced (no vibration in your throat) to voiced (your voice box buzzes): k → g, s → z, t → d, h → b. The vowel never changes.

Plain	With ゛	Sound before	Sound now
か	が	ka	ga
き	ぎ	ki	gi
く	ぐ	ku	gu

Feel the Difference Put two fingers on your throat and whisper "k", then say "g". Only the "g" buzzes under your fingers. That buzz is the only difference between か and が. The mark itself is small: write it after the main character, as two quick short strokes at the top right (check the stroke-order page for the direction).

	a	i	u	e	o
k	か	き	く	け	こ
g (k + ゛)	が	ぎ	ぐ	げ	ご

The three highlighted characters are today's. げ and ご come in Chapter 2.

✨ Three New Characters — がぎぐ

が

like "ga" in gap, a hard g ("gah")

5 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: ka with its two dots, like a karate fighter shouting "ga!". The three strokes of か plus two for the mark.

ぎ

like "gee" in geese, a hard g, short ("gee")

6 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a key that has grown two dots: き + ゛. The hard g, never as in giant.

ぐ

like "goo" in goose, relaxed lips ("goo")

3 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a cuckoo's beak with two dots: く + ゛ (a one-stroke く plus two strokes for the mark).

Always a Hard G Japanese g is always the hard sound of go and get, never the soft sound of giant or gem. So ぎ is "gee", like geese, and not "jee".

A Softer G in the Middle of a Word Many Japanese speakers, especially in Tokyo, say the が-row sounds with a soft "ng" (like the end of sing) when they appear in the middle of a word, so かぎ may sound a little like "ka-ngi". You don't need to copy this: the plain hard "g" is always understood. Just know that you may hear it.

📖 Read It — New Words

You now know all 46 basic hiragana plus three new ones, so you can read many words. Read the Japanese first, then check the romaji.

#	Word	Romaji	English	Note
1	がくせい	gakusei	student	ga-ku-se-i: the が of ガ-ク
2	ぎんこう	ginkō	bank	gi-n-ko-u: the こう is a long o, more in Hiragana 3
3	えいが	eiga	film, movie	e-i-ga
4	かぎ	kagi	key	ka-gi
5	がいこく	gaikoku	foreign country	ga-i-ko-ku
6	まんが	manga	manga, comic	ma-n-ga
7	めがね	megane	glasses	me-ga-ne
8	かがく	kagaku	science	ka-ga-ku
9	ぐあい	guai	condition, state	gu-a-i; as in "How are you feeling?"
10	がか	gaka	painter, artist	ga-ka

Real Japanese Tip — ん Before が In words like まんが (manga) and ぎんこう (bank), the ん is a full beat of its own, and it is pronounced slightly differently depending on what follows it. Don't worry about this yet: just give ん a full beat, as you did in Hiragana 1.

Review: Words from Hiragana 1 A quick check that the basics are still there: ありがとう (arigatō, thank you), さようなら (sayōnara, goodbye), にほん (Nihon, Japan). Notice that ありがとう already contains a が, which you could not read as a single character until today.

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. What does the dakuten ゛ do to a consonant?

Show answer

It makes it voiced: k → g, s → z, t → d, h → b. The vowel stays the same.

2. Read aloud: が · ぎ · ぐ

Show answer

ga · gi · gu

3. Read aloud and translate: かぎ · えいが · めがね

Show answer

kagi (key) · eiga (film) · megane (glasses)

4. Read aloud and translate: がくせい · ぎんこう · がいこく

Show answer

gakusei (student) · ginkō (bank) · gaikoku (foreign country)

5. What is the only difference between か and が?

Show answer

The voice: ka is unvoiced; ga is voiced (your throat buzzes).

6. Write in hiragana: kagi · manga · kagaku (check the stroke order).

Show answer

かぎ · まんが · かがく

Coming Up in Chapter 2 The rest of the G row: げ (ge) and ご (go). You'll be able to read げんき (well), ごはん (rice, a meal), たまご (egg), and a polite phrase you will use often: ごめんなさい (I'm sorry).

Ga Gi Gu

🌸 Two Tiny Dots — ゛ と が ぎ ぐ

〰️ What the Dakuten Does — 濁点

✨ Three New Characters — が ぎ ぐ

📖 Read It — New Words

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

🌸 Two Tiny Dots — ゛とがぎぐ

✨ Three New Characters — がぎぐ