Me Mo

Hiragana 1

Chapter 14 · Me Mo

🌸 Finishing the M Row — めも

Two characters complete the M row: め (me) and も (mo). That makes thirty-five characters. Today you'll also meet the particle も ("also, too"), the phone greeting もしもし, and the words for the people in your family.

	a	i	u	e	o
(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
m +	ま	み	む	め	も

Thirty-five down, eleven to go. The Y row comes next.

✨ Two New Characters — めも

め

like "me" in met, short ("meh")

2 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: an eye with a long lash flicking out to the right. (め is also the Japanese word for "eye".)

も

like "mo" in more, short and pure ("moh")

3 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a fishing hook with two lines in the water: more fish!

Look-Alike Warning: め and ぬめ (me) and ぬ (nu) are the classic mix-up from Chapter 9. Both are 2 strokes with a slanting first stroke, and both finish at the bottom right, but ぬ ends in a small loop, while め ends in a plain sweep with no loop. Compare them side by side: ぬめ. Remember "ぬ for noodles" (the tangle) and "め for eye" (the open lash).

📖 Read It — New Words

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

#	Word	Romaji	English	Note
1	め	me	eye	a word as well as a character
2	あめ	ame	rain; candy	same spelling, different pitch
3	かめ	kame	turtle	ka + me
4	もも	momo	peach	mo + mo
5	もの	mono	thing, object	a physical "thing"
6	もち	mochi	rice cake	mo + chi
7	くも	kumo	cloud; spider	two meanings, one spelling
8	もう	mō	already; any more	"mo-o": 2 beats
9	おもい	omoi	heavy	an adjective
10	おもう	omou	to think	a verb
11	いもうと	imōto	(my) younger sister	four beats: i-mo-u-to
12	もしもし	moshi moshi	hello (on the phone)	how you answer a call

Real Japanese Tip — あめ: Rain and Candy あめ means both "rain" and "candy". They're written the same in hiragana, but a Japanese speaker tells them apart by pitch (the rise and fall of the voice), and by context. That's one reason Japanese writers often use kanji, which separate the meanings. For now, context is all you need.

Real Japanese Tip — Your Own Family You now know the casual, humble words that people use for their own family: ちち (father), はは (mother), あに (older brother), あね (older sister), おとうと (younger brother) and いもうと (younger sister). When talking about someone else's family, Japanese uses different, more respectful words, which you'll meet in the conversation courses.

🔗 The Particle も — "Also, Too"

The particle も (mo) means "also" or "too". It takes the place of は: A も B = "A is B too". (Spaces are added to show the word breaks.)

Japanese	Romaji	English
いぬはちいさい。ねこもちいさい。	inu wa chiisai. neko mo chiisai.	The dog is small. The cat is small too.
あなたも？	anata mo?	You too?
えきへいきます。あなたも？	eki e ikimasu. anata mo?	I'm going to the station. Are you going too?

💬 Mini-Dialogs

① On the Phone — もしもし

A: もしもし。 moshi moshi. Hello? (answering the phone)

B: もしもし。あのね、… moshi moshi. ano ne, … Hello. You know, …

② Small Too — ねこも

A: いぬはちいさい。 inu wa chiisai. The dog is small.

B: ねこもちいさいね。 neko mo chiisai ne. The cat is small too, isn't it.

③ You Too? — あなたも？

A: えきへいきます。あなたも？ eki e ikimasu. anata mo? I'm going to the station. You too?

B: はい、いきます。 hai, ikimasu. Yes, I'm going.

Review: Reading Back Cover the English and read these again: うま (horse) · みみ (ear) · むし (insect) · まち (town) · みち (road) · みせ (shop) · まえ (front) · うみ (sea) · きた (north) · みなみ (south) · むかし (long ago) · まつ (to wait).

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

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

1. Say the whole M row in order: まみむめも

Show answer

ma · mi · mu · me · mo

2. How can you tell め from ぬ, and how many strokes do め and も have?

Show answer

ぬ ends in a small loop; め ends in a plain sweep. め has 2 strokes, も has 3.

3. Read and translate: あめ · かめ · もも

Show answer

ame (rain, or candy) · kame (turtle) · momo (peach)

4. Write in hiragana: mono (thing) · kumo (cloud) · imōto (younger sister)

Show answer

もの · くも · いもうと

5. Translate: ねこもちいさい。 and あなたも？

Show answer

The cat is small too. · You too?

6. What do you say when you answer a phone call in Japanese?

Show answer

もしもし (moshi moshi).

Coming Up in Chapter 15 The Y row begins: やゆよ (ya, yu, yo). The Y row has only three characters (the "yi" and "ye" slots are empty). You'll then read やま (mountain), ゆき (snow), ゆめ (dream), やさい (vegetables) and やすみ (holiday).

Me Mo

🌸 Finishing the M Row — め も

✨ Two New Characters — め も

📖 Read It — New Words

🔗 The Particle も — "Also, Too"

💬 Mini-Dialogs

① On the Phone — もしもし

② Small Too — ねこも

③ You Too? — あなたも？

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

🌸 Finishing the M Row — めも

✨ Two New Characters — めも