Ga Gi Gu Ge Go

Katakana 2

Chapter 1 · Ga Gi Gu Ge Go

🌸 The Dakuten on the K Row — ガギグゲゴ

You already know what the two dots do from Hiragana 2: they turn an unvoiced consonant into a voiced one. Katakana uses exactly the same mark in exactly the same way. Today it goes on the whole K row at once, giving ガギグゲゴ (ga gi gu ge go). Romaji is shown for everything.

Plain	With ゛	Sound before	Sound now
カ	ガ	ka	ga
キ	ギ	ki	gi
ク	グ	ku	gu
ケ	ゲ	ke	ge
コ	ゴ	ko	go

	a	i	u	e	o
k	カ	キ	ク	ケ	コ
g (k + ゛)	ガ	ギ	グ	ゲ	ゴ

All five highlighted characters are today's: the whole G row in one chapter, because each one is just a K character you already know plus ゛.

✨ Five New Characters — ガギグゲゴ

ガ

like "ga" in gas ("gah")

4 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a gas flame: カ with two sparks. Hiragana twin: が.

ギ

like "gee" in geese, short ("gee")

5 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a guitar with its strings: キ with two dots. Hiragana twin: ぎ.

グ

like "goo" in goose ("goo")

4 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a goose's beak and two eyes: ク with two dots. Hiragana twin: ぐ.

ゲ

like "ge" in get ("geh")

5 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a gecko's tail and two spots: ケ with two dots. Hiragana twin: げ.

ゴ

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

4 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a goal with two balls: コ with two dots. Hiragana twin: ご.

Always a Hard G Just as in hiragana, g is always the hard sound of go and get, never the soft sound of giant. So ギ is "gee", and ギフト is gi-fu-to, with a hard g.

Don't Confuse the Marks with シ and ツ The dakuten ゛ is two tiny strokes at the top right corner of a character. Don't mistake it for the dots of シ, ツ or ソ, which are strokes of those characters themselves. If a character has two small marks in the top right corner, it is a voiced character.

📖 Read It — New Words

Read the Japanese first, then check the romaji and the English word it comes from.

#	Word	Romaji	English	Note
1	ゲーム	gēmu	game	ge-e-mu: the English word game
2	ギター	gitā	guitar	gi-ta-a
3	ガス	gasu	gas	ga-su
4	グラス	gurasu	glass (a drinking glass)	gu-ra-su
5	ゴルフ	gorufu	golf	go-ru-fu
6	ゴール	gōru	goal	go-o-ru: in football you hear it shouted
7	ガム	gamu	chewing gum	ga-mu
8	ゲスト	gesuto	guest	ge-su-to
9	ゴリラ	gorira	gorilla	go-ri-ra
10	ギフト	gifuto	gift	gi-fu-to

Real Japanese Tip — ゲーム Is Everywhere ゲーム is not only for screens: it also means any game, including board games and sports games. Japan's video-game culture is why the word appears on so many shop fronts, so it is a very useful one to recognise. And in a football or baseball broadcast, ゴール is shouted just as in English.

English Words Bent into Japanese Notice how English consonant clusters get vowels inserted: glass becomes gu-ra-su, golf becomes go-ru-fu and gift becomes gi-fu-to. You met this in Katakana 1, and it is the same here: Japanese needs a vowel after every consonant.

Review: Words from Chapter 0 コーヒー (coffee) · アイス (ice) · テニス (tennis) · カメラ (camera) · ホテル (hotel) · アメリカ (America).

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

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

1. Read aloud: ガ · ギ · グ · ゲ · ゴ

Show answer

ga · gi · gu · ge · go

2. Read aloud and translate: ゲーム · ギター · ガス

Show answer

gēmu (game) · gitā (guitar) · gasu (gas)

3. Read aloud and translate: ゴルフ · ゴール · ゴリラ

Show answer

gorufu (golf) · gōru (goal) · gorira (gorilla)

4. Read aloud and translate: グラス · ゲスト · ギフト

Show answer

gurasu (glass) · gesuto (guest) · gifuto (gift)

5. What does the dakuten do to カ, and what is the result?

Show answer

It voices the consonant: k → g, so カ (ka) becomes ガ (ga).

6. Write in katakana: gēmu · gorufu · gitā (check the stroke order).

Show answer

ゲーム · ゴルフ · ギター

Coming Up in Chapter 2 The dakuten on the S row: ザジズゼゾ (za ji zu ze zo). You'll be able to read ゼロ (zero), ジム (gym) and ズボン (trousers).

Ga Gi Gu Ge Go

🌸 The Dakuten on the K Row — ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ

✨ Five New Characters — ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ

📖 Read It — New Words

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

🌸 The Dakuten on the K Row — ガギグゲゴ

✨ Five New Characters — ガギグゲゴ