Ba Bi Bu

Hiragana 2

Chapter 7 · Ba Bi Bu

🌸 The B Row Begins — ばびぶ

The dakuten turns h into b, giving ば (ba), び (bi) and ぶ (bu). This chapter also solves a small puzzle: why the greeting こんばんは ends in a character you'd read ha but say wa. Romaji is shown for everything.

Plain	With ゛	Sound before	Sound now
は	ば	ha	ba
ひ	び	hi	bi
ふ	ぶ	fu	bu

	a	i	u	e	o
h	は	ひ	ふ	へ	ほ
b (h + ゛)	ば	び	ぶ	べ	ぼ

The three highlighted characters are today's. べ and ぼ come in Chapter 8.

✨ Three New Characters — ばびぶ

ば

like "ba" in bar ("bah")

5 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a bat with two flapping wings: は with two dots. Three strokes plus two for the mark.

び

like "bee", short ("bee")

3 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a bee with two buzzing marks: ひ with two dots. One stroke plus two for the mark.

ぶ

like "boo", relaxed lips ("boo")

6 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a ghost going boo: ふ with two dots. Four strokes plus two for the mark.

Why Is H Voiced Into B? The H row is unusual: the dakuten turns it into b, not into a "voiced h". Linguists believe that in Old Japanese the H row was pronounced with a p sound, which explains why this row is the only one with two marks: ゛ gives ba bi bu (this chapter) and ゜ gives pa pi pu (Chapter 9).

📖 Read It — New Words

Read the Japanese first, then check the romaji.

#	Word	Romaji	English	Note
1	こんばんは	konbanwa	good evening	ko-n-ba-n-wa: the last は is read "wa"
2	ばんごう	bangō	number	ba-n-go-u: as in a phone number
3	ばんごはん	bangohan	dinner; evening meal	ba-n-go-ha-n: ばん + ごはん
4	かばん	kaban	bag	ka-ba-n
5	あぶない	abunai	dangerous; careful!	a-bu-na-i: you'll see it on warning signs
6	ぶどう	budō	grapes	bu-do-u
7	ぶた	buta	pig	bu-ta
8	ばら	bara	rose	ba-ra
9	ゆびわ	yubiwa	ring (jewellery)	yu-bi-wa
10	さびしい	sabishii	lonely	sa-bi-shi-i: the しい is a long i

Real Japanese Tip — Why こんばんは Ends in は こんにちは (good day) and こんばんは (good evening) both end in は, but it is pronounced wa, not ha. These greetings were once the start of a longer sentence in which は was the particle meaning "as for", and the spelling stayed even though the sentence was dropped. The particle は (read wa) is coming in Hiragana 3.

A Handy Pair こんにちは is for daytime, こんばんは for evening, and おはようございます for morning. Put them together with ありがとうございます and どうぞ and you can greet and thank anyone politely.

Review: Words from Chapter 6 です (is; am; are) · どこ (where) · でんわ (telephone) · でぐち (exit) · どうぞ (please) · どうも (thanks).

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

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

1. Read aloud: ば · び · ぶ

Show answer

ba · bi · bu

2. Read aloud and translate: かばん · ぶた · ばら

Show answer

kaban (bag) · buta (pig) · bara (rose)

3. Read aloud and translate: ぶどう · ゆびわ · あぶない

Show answer

budō (grapes) · yubiwa (ring) · abunai (dangerous)

4. Read aloud: こんばんは. How is the last character pronounced?

Show answer

konbanwa. The final は is read wa, not ha.

5. Which consonant does the dakuten make from the H row?

Show answer

B: は → ば, ひ → び, ふ → ぶ.

6. Write in hiragana: kaban · buta · bangō (check the stroke order).

Show answer

かばん · ぶた · ばんごう

Coming Up in Chapter 8 The rest of the B row: べ (be) and ぼ (bo). You'll be able to read たべる (to eat), おべんとう (lunch box) and ぼく (I, said by a man or boy).

Ba Bi Bu

🌸 The B Row Begins — ば び ぶ

✨ Three New Characters — ば び ぶ

📖 Read It — New Words

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

🌸 The B Row Begins — ばびぶ

✨ Three New Characters — ばびぶ