Ge Go

Hiragana 2

Chapter 2 · Ge Go

🌸 Finishing the G Row — げご

Two characters complete the G row: げ (ge) and ご (go), the voiced forms of け and こ. With them you can read your first polite phrases, ごめんなさい and ごちそうさま. Romaji is shown for everything.

Plain	With ゛	Sound before	Sound now
け	げ	ke	ge
こ	ご	ko	go

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

The two highlighted characters are today's; the G row is now complete.

✨ Two New Characters — げご

げ

like "ge" in get, a hard g ("geh")

5 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a geta, a wooden sandal: け with its two dots. The three strokes of け plus two for the mark.

ご

like "go" in go, short ("goh")

4 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: two stones on a board, ready to go: こ with its two dots. Two strokes plus two for the mark.

Three Meanings of ご The sound go turns up all over Japanese. At the start of a word it is often a polite prefix, as in ごはん (rice, a meal) and ごちそうさま. In にほんご it means "language", as in Nihon-go (Japanese). And in ごご it means "afterwards", so ごご is the afternoon. Context tells you which one you are looking at.

📖 Read It — New Words

Read the Japanese first, then check the romaji.

#	Word	Romaji	English	Note
1	げんき	genki	well, healthy, lively	ge-n-ki: you'll hear it in "Ogenki desu ka?"
2	ごはん	gohan	cooked rice; a meal	go-ha-n: ご is a polite prefix here
3	たまご	tamago	egg	ta-ma-go
4	りんご	ringo	apple	ri-n-go
5	にほんご	Nihongo	the Japanese language	ni-ho-n-go: ご means "language" here
6	ごご	gogo	afternoon; p.m.	go-go: the opposite of ごぜん (a.m.)
7	あげる	ageru	to give	a-ge-ru
8	げた	geta	geta (wooden clogs)	ge-ta
9	ごめんなさい	gomennasai	I'm sorry	go-me-n-na-sa-i
10	ごちそうさま	gochisōsama	thank you for the meal	go-chi-sō-sa-ma: said after eating

Real Japanese Tip — ごめんなさい and ごちそうさま ごめんなさい is the standard way to say "I'm sorry", and ごめん alone is the casual form, for friends. ごちそうさま is said at the end of a meal to thank whoever made or paid for it, and you'll hear it in homes and restaurants all over Japan. The full polite version, ごちそうさまでした, needs the で from Chapter 6.

Review: Chapter 1 Words Read these again: がくせい (student) · ぎんこう (bank) · えいが (film) · かぎ (key) · がいこく (foreign country) · まんが (manga) · めがね (glasses).

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

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

1. Read aloud: げ · ご · が · ぎ · ぐ

Show answer

ge · go · ga · gi · gu

2. Read aloud and translate: げんき · ごはん · たまご

Show answer

genki (well) · gohan (rice; a meal) · tamago (egg)

3. Read aloud and translate: りんご · にほんご · ごご

Show answer

ringo (apple) · Nihongo (the Japanese language) · gogo (afternoon)

4. Read aloud and translate: ごめんなさい · ごちそうさま

Show answer

gomennasai (I'm sorry) · gochisōsama (thank you for the meal)

5. What is the difference between こ and ご?

Show answer

こ is ko, unvoiced; ご is go, voiced, and has the two dots.

6. Write in hiragana: ringo · tamago · genki (check the stroke order).

Show answer

りんご · たまご · げんき

Coming Up in Chapter 3 The Z row begins: ざ (za), じ (ji) and ず (zu). Together with what you know already, you'll be able to read ありがとうございます (thank you) and おはようございます (good morning).

Ge Go

🌸 Finishing the G Row — げ ご

✨ Two New Characters — げ ご

📖 Read It — New Words

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

🌸 Finishing the G Row — げご

✨ Two New Characters — げご