The Vowel Row

Hiragana 1

Chapter 2 Β· The Vowel Row: E O

🌸 Completing the Vowels β€” γ‚γ„γ†γˆγŠ

In Chapter 1 you learned あ い う. Today you add え and お, which completes the first row of hiragana: the five vowels. You'll also read your first words that use them, including "yes" and "no".

あa
いi
うu
えe
おo

The five Japanese vowels: a Β· i Β· u Β· e Β· o. Japanese children recite this row like English children recite their ABC.

✨ Two New Characters β€” え お

Remember: each vowel is short, pure and steady. Don't let it glide into a second sound the way English "ay" and "oh" do.

え
e
like the "e" in bed ("eh"), short, with no "ee" or "ay" glide
2 strokes Β· stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: an emu in profile, with a short head at the top and a long tail sweeping out behind.
お
o
like the "o" in more ("oh"), short and pure, no "oo" glide
3 strokes Β· stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: a surprised person saying "Oh!", with a little spark at the upper right.
Look-Alike Warning: あ and お あ (a) and お (o) look alike: both have a horizontal line, a vertical line and a loop. The quick test is the small dot at the upper right: お has it, あ doesn't. Check for the dot every time you read or write one of these two.
The Romaji "e" Is "eh", Never "ee" In romaji for Japanese, e always means the "eh" in bed, not the English letter name "ee". So ie sounds like "ee-eh", and the word ee (ええ, "yes") sounds like "eh-eh" (two short e beats), not "ee". That's the one place romaji can mislead an English speaker, so trust the pronunciation hints on this page.

πŸ“– Read It β€” New Words

Every word below uses only the five vowels. Remember that each character is one beat, so a word of three characters has three beats.

#WordRomajiEnglishNote
1iehouse, homei + e, two beats ("ee-eh")
2ueabove, on topu + e, two beats ("oo-eh")
3aobluea + o, as in "ah-oh"
4eeyes (polite)"eh-eh", two e beats
5iienothree beats: "ee-ee-eh"
6oihey! (informal)a bit rough, used with close friends

The single characters are words too, little reactions you'll hear all the time:

WordRomajiMeaning
a"Ah!" / "Oh!" (noticing something)
e"Eh?" / "Really?" (surprise)
Review: Words from Chapter 1 Cover the English and read these again: (ai, love) Β· (ii, good) Β· (au, to meet) Β· (iu, to say). Regular, short review is how kana stick, so reread the previous chapter's words at the start of each lesson.
Real Japanese Tip β€” γ‚γ„γ†γˆγŠ Is Japan's "ABC" Japanese people learn γ‚γ„γ†γˆγŠ first, and it's also the first row of the order used in Japanese dictionaries and phone contact lists. The full grid you saw in Chapter 1 (gojΕ«on) is read in that order: あ い う え お β†’ か き く け こ β†’ さ し す せ そ and so on. Learning the characters in this order, as this course does, means you also learn the alphabetical order for free.

✍️ Try It Yourself β€” γ‚Œγ‚“γ—γ‚…γ†

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

1. Say the five vowels in order, with their romaji:

Show answer

a Β· i Β· u Β· e Β· o ("ah, ee, oo, eh, oh").

2. Which of and has 3 strokes, and what quick test tells apart from ?

Show answer

お has 3 strokes (え has 2). お has a small dot at the upper right; あ doesn't.

3. Read these words and give their meanings: Β· Β·

Show answer

ie (house) Β· ue (above) Β· ao (blue)

4. Write in hiragana: ie Β· ee (yes) Β· iie (no)

Show answer

Β· Β·

5. How many beats does have?

Show answer

Three (one per character: ee-ee-eh).

6. Someone points at a picture and you want to say "Is it blue? Yes." Which of the words from today would you use for "blue" and for "yes"?

Show answer

blue = (ao); yes = (ee).

Coming Up in Chapter 3 You've learned the whole vowel row. From now on every new character is a consonant + vowel. Next up: the first consonant row, starting with か き く (ka, ki, ku), and words like γ‹γŠ (face), あか (red) and かう (to buy).