Ga Gi Gu Ge Go

Katakana 2

Chapter 1 · Ga Gi Gu Ge Go

🌸 The Dakuten on the K Row — ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ

You already know what the two dots do from Hiragana 2: they turn an unvoiced consonant into a voiced one. Katakana uses exactly the same mark in exactly the same way. Today it goes on the whole K row at once, giving ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ (ga gi gu ge go). Romaji is shown for everything.

PlainWith ゛Sound beforeSound now
kaga
kigi
kugu
kege
kogo
aiueo
kカキクケコ
g (k + ゛)ガギグゲゴ

All five highlighted characters are today's: the whole G row in one chapter, because each one is just a K character you already know plus ゛.

✨ Five New Characters — ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ

ガ
ga
like "ga" in gas ("gah")
4 strokes · stroke order ▸
Memory hook: a gas flame: カ with two sparks. Hiragana twin: が.
ギ
gi
like "gee" in geese, short ("gee")
5 strokes · stroke order ▸
Memory hook: a guitar with its strings: キ with two dots. Hiragana twin: ぎ.
グ
gu
like "goo" in goose ("goo")
4 strokes · stroke order ▸
Memory hook: a goose's beak and two eyes: ク with two dots. Hiragana twin: ぐ.
ゲ
ge
like "ge" in get ("geh")
5 strokes · stroke order ▸
Memory hook: a gecko's tail and two spots: ケ with two dots. Hiragana twin: げ.
ゴ
go
like "go" in go, short ("goh")
4 strokes · stroke order ▸
Memory hook: a goal with two balls: コ with two dots. Hiragana twin: ご.
Always a Hard G Just as in hiragana, g is always the hard sound of go and get, never the soft sound of giant. So ギ is "gee", and ギフト is gi-fu-to, with a hard g.
Don't Confuse the Marks with シ and ツ The dakuten ゛ is two tiny strokes at the top right corner of a character. Don't mistake it for the dots of シ, ツ or ソ, which are strokes of those characters themselves. If a character has two small marks in the top right corner, it is a voiced character.

📖 Read It — New Words

Read the Japanese first, then check the romaji and the English word it comes from.

#WordRomajiEnglishNote
1gēmugamege-e-mu: the English word game
2gitāguitargi-ta-a
3gasugasga-su
4gurasuglass (a drinking glass)gu-ra-su
5gorufugolfgo-ru-fu
6gōrugoalgo-o-ru: in football you hear it shouted
7gamuchewing gumga-mu
8gesutoguestge-su-to
9goriragorillago-ri-ra
10gifutogiftgi-fu-to
Real Japanese Tip — ゲーム Is Everywhere ゲーム is not only for screens: it also means any game, including board games and sports games. Japan's video-game culture is why the word appears on so many shop fronts, so it is a very useful one to recognise. And in a football or baseball broadcast, ゴール is shouted just as in English.
English Words Bent into Japanese Notice how English consonant clusters get vowels inserted: glass becomes gu-ra-su, golf becomes go-ru-fu and gift becomes gi-fu-to. You met this in Katakana 1, and it is the same here: Japanese needs a vowel after every consonant.
Review: Words from Chapter 0 (coffee) · (ice) · (tennis) · (camera) · (hotel) · (America).

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

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

1. Read aloud: · · · ·

Show answer

ga · gi · gu · ge · go

2. Read aloud and translate: · ·

Show answer

gēmu (game) · gitā (guitar) · gasu (gas)

3. Read aloud and translate: · ·

Show answer

gorufu (golf) · gōru (goal) · gorira (gorilla)

4. Read aloud and translate: · ·

Show answer

gurasu (glass) · gesuto (guest) · gifuto (gift)

5. What does the dakuten do to , and what is the result?

Show answer

It voices the consonant: k → g, so カ (ka) becomes ガ (ga).

6. Write in katakana: gēmu · gorufu · gitā (check the stroke order).

Show answer

· ·

Coming Up in Chapter 2 The dakuten on the S row: ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ (za ji zu ze zo). You'll be able to read ゼロ (zero), ジム (gym) and ズボン (trousers).