He Ho

Katakana 1

Chapter 12 Β· He Ho

🌿 Finishing the H Row β€” γƒ˜ ホ

Two characters complete the H row: γƒ˜ (he) and ホ (ho). One of them is a single stroke and is almost identical to its hiragana twin, so it'll be easy. Romaji is shown for everything.

✨ Your Two New Characters β€” γƒ˜ ホ

γƒ˜
he
like "he" in hen ("heh")
1 strokes Β· stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: a hedge or a hill: one stroke going up and then down. Hiragana twin: へ, which is almost the same shape.
ホ
ho
like "ho" in hotel, short ("hoh")
4 strokes Β· stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: a holy cross with a candle on each side: a cross in the middle and a stroke on each side. Hiragana twin: ほ.
KatakanaHiragana twinRomaji
he
ho

πŸ”€ The Complete H Row

hahifuheho

Top row katakana, bottom row hiragana: say each pair aloud.

γƒ˜ and へ: The Twins That Look Alike γƒ˜ (katakana) and へ (hiragana) are almost the same shape; the katakana is a little sharper. They are among the few kana you can mistake between scripts, so let the context help you: inside a loanword it's γƒ˜. Also note γƒ˜ has just one stroke while ハ (ha) has two.
Look-Alikes: ホ and ネ ホ (ho) and ネ (ne) both have four strokes. Check the beginning: ホ starts with a horizontal bar across the top, while ネ starts with a small dot on top.

πŸ“– Read It β€” Real Words

#WordRomajiEnglishNote
1heahairhe-a: as in γƒ˜γ‚’γ‚±γ‚’ (hair care)
2hōsuhoseho-o-su
3hosutohostho-su-to
4SōhōSohoso-o-ho-o: four beats
5heitohate (as in hate speech)he-i-to
6hōhō(drill)a drill: ho-o-ho-o, four beats
Any Foreign Word Katakana can be used to write any foreign word, not just English ones: ソーホー is the London district, and the same script will write the names of cities, people and brands from all over the world. When you read a new katakana word, ask yourself: is it a place, a name or an everyday borrowed word? The context usually tells you.

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

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

1. Read aloud: Β· Β· Β· Β·

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he Β· ho Β· ha Β· hi Β· fu

2. Read aloud and translate: Β·

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hea (hair) · hōsu (hose)

3. Read aloud and translate: Β·

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hosuto (host) · Sōhō (Soho)

4. How many strokes do and have?

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γƒ˜ has one; ハ has two.

5. How can you tell from ?

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Both have four strokes. ホ starts with a horizontal bar; ネ starts with a small dot on top.

6. Write in katakana: hea · hōsu · hosuto (check the stroke order).

Show answer

Β· Β·

Coming Up in Chapter 5 The M row begins: γƒž γƒŸ γƒ  (ma, mi, mu). You'll read ハム (ham), γƒžγ‚Ήγ‚― (mask), ホーム (platform; home) and γƒ γƒΌγ‚Ή (mousse), and meet the look-alike pair γ‚’ and γƒž.