He Ho

Hiragana 1

Chapter 12 · He Ho

🌸 Finishing the H Row — へ ほ

Two characters complete the H row: へ (he) and ほ (ho). That makes thirty characters. Today you'll meet the second of the three special particles, へ, which is read e and means "to / toward", and you'll be able to build your first sentences with は and へ together.

aiueo
(vowels)あいうえお
k +かきくけこ
s +さしすせそ
t +たちつてと
n +なにぬねの
h +はひふへほ

Thirty down, sixteen to go. The M row comes next.

✨ Two New Characters — へ ほ

へ
he
like "he" in hen, short ("heh")
1 stroke · stroke order ▸
Memory hook: an arrow tip pointing up and to the right, heading off toward a destination.
ほ
ho
like "ho" in hoe, short and pure ("hoh")
4 strokes · stroke order ▸
Memory hook: Santa's "Ho ho ho!": it's は's "Ha!" with an extra bar, a bigger laugh.
Look-Alike Warnings: ほ and は, へ and く ほ and は are almost the same character. The difference is one extra bar: ほ (ho) has two short bars at the top, and は (ha) has one. That's also why ほ has 4 strokes and は has 3. へ and く are both simple angled strokes: へ (he) is wide and points up, whereas く (ku) is tall and narrow and points left.

📖 Read It — New Words

With thirty characters, you can read all of these. Remember that each character is one beat.

#WordRomajiEnglishNote
1eto, towardthe particle; read "e"
2hoshistarho + shi
3hokaother, elseho + ka
4honeboneho + ne
5hōcheeka long "o": 2 beats
6hoshiiwant, would likean adjective, "(I) want it"
7hosoithin, narrowan adjective
8hotokeBuddhaho + to + ke
9hesobelly buttonhe + so
10hetaunskilled, poor athe + ta
11heiwall, fencea garden wall
12hōdirection; sideused in comparisons later

🔗 The Particle へ — Read as "e"

Just as は is read wa, the particle へ is read e and means "to / toward": A へ いく = "go to A". The character stays へ; only the reading changes. (Spaces are added to show the word breaks.)

JapaneseRomaji (as spoken)English
eki e iku.(I) go to the station.
ie e iku.(I) go to the house.
soto e iku.(I) go outside.
inu wa ie e iku.The dog goes to the house.
neko wa soto e iku.The cat goes outside.
Real Japanese Tip — へ or に? Japanese people often use に (ni) instead of へ with a place and a verb of movement: えき に いく and えき へ いく both mean "go to the station". As a beginner, you can think of へ as "toward" and に as "to / at the exact spot". You'll hear and read both, and nobody will mind which one you pick.
Real Japanese Tip — ほしい, "I Want It" ほしい (hoshii) means "want" and it's very useful to know. A thing you want is "ほしい": ほしい？ ("Do you want it?"), はい、ほしい！ ("Yes, I want it!"). It's an い-adjective, like おいしい and ちいさい.

💬 Mini-Dialogs

① Do You Want It? — ほしい？

A: hoshii? Do you want it?
B: hai, hoshii! Yes, I want it!

② Where Do They Go? — いく

A: inu wa ie e iku. The dog goes to the house.
B: neko wa? And the cat?
A: neko wa soto e iku. The cat goes outside.

③ To the Station — えき へ

A: nē, eki e iku? Hey, are you going to the station?
B: hai, iku! Yes, I'm going!
Review: Reading Back Cover the English and read these again: (yes) · (flower; nose) · (person) · (ship) · (aeroplane) · (box) · (mother) · (one thing) · (two things) · (low) · (clothes) · (talk).

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

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

1. Say the whole H row in order:

Show answer

ha · hi · fu · he · ho

2. How can you tell from ?

Show answer

ほ has two short bars at the top (4 strokes); は has one (3 strokes).

3. Read and translate: · ·

Show answer

hoshi (star) · hone (bone) · heso (belly button)

4. Write in hiragana: hoshii (want) · hoka (other) · heta (unskilled)

Show answer

· ·

5. Read and translate:

Show answer

"inu wa ie e iku": The dog goes to the house. (は is read wa and へ is read e.)

6. How is pronounced when it's used as a particle, and what does it mean?

Show answer

It's read e, and it means "to / toward".

Coming Up in Chapter 13 The M row begins: ま み む (ma, mi, mu). You'll then read うま (horse), みみ (ear), むし (insect) and まち (town). One more particle is waiting for the end of the course: を.