Se So

Hiragana 1

Chapter 6 · Se So

🌸 Finishing the S Row — せそ

Two characters complete the S row: せ (se) and そ (so). That makes fifteen characters in total, and today's reading words include a useful family of place words: here, there, over there.

	a	i	u	e	o
(vowels)	あ	い	う	え	お
k +	か	き	く	け	こ
s +	さ	し	す	せ	そ

Fifteen down, thirty-one to go. Next chapter starts the T row.

✨ Two New Characters — せそ

せ

like "se" in set, short ("seh")

3 strokes · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a seesaw: a long board with a pivot, and a hooked foot at the bottom.

そ

like "so" in saw, short and pure ("soh")

1 stroke · stroke order ▸

Memory hook: a zig-zag of thread being sewn, "so" sounds like "sew".

Stroke Count: そそ is written in one stroke in standard handwriting, but in many printed fonts the short top bar is separated from the zig-zag, so it looks like 2. Follow the stroke-order animation and write it in one flowing movement.

📖 Read It — New Words

Fifteen characters let you read all of these. Remember that each character is one beat.

#	Word	Romaji	English	Note
1	せかい	sekai	world	se + ka + i
2	あせ	ase	sweat	a + se
3	せき	seki	seat; also a cough	two meanings, same spelling
4	うそ	uso	lie	u + so; also used as "No way!"
5	そこ	soko	there (near you)	so + ko
6	あそこ	asoko	over there	far from both of us
7	そう	sō	so; that's right	"soh-oh": a long sound (2 beats)
8	そうか	sō ka	I see; oh, really?	a very common reaction
9	おそい	osoi	slow; late	an adjective
10	さそう	sasou	to invite	a verb: ends in う

Real Japanese Tip — Ko, So, A, Do In Chapter 4 you met ここ (here, near me). Today's そこ and あそこ complete a four-part pattern that Japanese uses everywhere:

Starts with	Means	Place word	Meaning
こ	near me	ここ koko	here
そ	near you	そこ soko	there
あ	far from both	あそこ asoko	over there
ど (later)	question	doko	where?

The same four starting sounds turn up in this, that, that over there, which?, so you'll learn the whole family at once. (We'll write doko when we reach ど.)

Real Japanese Tip — そう and そうかそう ("sō") means "so" or "that's right", and そうか ("sō ka") is "I see" or "oh, is that so?": the reaction you'll hear most in a conversation. Even at this stage you can use it. Notice the doubled vowel in そう: it's said as two beats, "so-o", a long sound.

Review: Reading Back Cover the English and read these again: すし (sushi) · しお (salt) · いす (chair) · かさ (umbrella) · あさ (morning) · あし (foot) · うし (cow) · いし (stone) · しか (deer) · すき (like) · おいしい (delicious).

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

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

1. Say the whole S row in order: さしすせそ

Show answer

sa · shi · su · se · so

2. Which of せ and そ is written in one stroke?

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そ is one stroke. せ has 3.

3. Read and translate: せかい · あせ · うそ

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sekai (world) · ase (sweat) · uso (lie)

4. Write in hiragana: soko (there) · asoko (over there) · osoi (slow)

Show answer

そこ · あそこ · おそい

5. Of ここ, そこ and あそこ, which means "over there, far from both of us"?

Show answer

あそこ (asoko). ここ = here, そこ = there (near you).

6. You hear a friend say そうか. What are they telling you?

Show answer

"I see" or "Oh, really?", a reaction that shows they've understood.

Coming Up in Chapter 7 The T row begins: たちつ (ta, chi, tsu). Two of them have spelling surprises, since chi and tsu aren't written ti and tu. You'll then read たこ (octopus), うた (song), くち (mouth), つき (moon) and つくえ (desk).

Se So

🌸 Finishing the S Row — せ そ

✨ Two New Characters — せ そ

📖 Read It — New Words

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

🌸 Finishing the S Row — せそ

✨ Two New Characters — せそ