Hiragana quiz
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Want a day-by-day plan? Kana Challenge is a free 30-day hiragana and katakana course with a quiz in every lesson and graded stroke-order tracing, on Android, iPhone and the web.
This hiragana quiz shows one character at a time and asks for its sound. Pick from four answers or type the romaji; at the end you see every character you missed and can retry only those. Three sets turn on and off: the 46 basic hiragana, the 25 with dakuten and handakuten (が, ぱ), and the 33 yōon (きゃ, しゅ). The 60-second round counts how many you get right before time runs out, which shows whether your reading is getting faster.
How to use this hiragana test for daily practice
- Start with the basic 46 and picking. Four options let you learn the characters you do not know yet while you test the ones you do.
- Retry your misses straight away. The result screen lists each one; the retry button quizzes only those.
- Switch to typing at about 90%. Typing forces you to recall the sound with no hints, which is closer to reading real text.
- Turn the test around. "Picking the hiragana" shows a romaji and asks for the character, the direction you need when writing.
- Add dakuten, then yōon. が, ざ, だ, ば and ぱ are basic characters with two marks or a small circle, and きゃ, しゅ and ちょ are characters you know plus a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ, so both sets come quickly once the basics hold.
Run one round on most days and a 60-second round once a week to see your speed. For the other script, use the katakana quiz; to mix both, the hiragana and katakana quiz. A printable reference is on the hiragana and katakana charts page, and hiragana stroke order shows how to write each row.
Hiragana chart
Each cell shows the hiragana and the romaji the quiz expects (Hepburn). Tap a character to hear it. Rows follow the gojūon order used in Japanese dictionaries.
| Row | a | i | u | e | o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vowels | |||||
| k- | |||||
| s- | |||||
| t- | |||||
| n- | |||||
| h- | |||||
| m- | |||||
| y- | |||||
| r- | |||||
| w- | |||||
| n |
Dakuten and handakuten (25)
| Row | a | i | u | e | o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g- | |||||
| z- | |||||
| d- | |||||
| b- | |||||
| p- |
Yōon (33)
| Row | ya | yu | yo |
|---|---|---|---|
| ky- | |||
| sh- | |||
| ch- | |||
| ny- | |||
| hy- | |||
| my- | |||
| ry- | |||
| gy- | |||
| j- | |||
| by- | |||
| py- |
Hiragana that are easy to confuse
These pairs cause most wrong answers. Look at the part that differs.
| Pair | Romaji | The difference |
|---|---|---|
| ぬ / め | nu / me | ぬ ends in a small loop; め does not. |
| る / ろ | ru / ro | る ends in a small loop; ろ ends open. |
| ね / れ / わ | ne / re / wa | Same first stroke. ね ends in a loop, れ kicks out to the right, わ curves back in. |
| さ / ち | sa / chi | Mirror images. The curve at the bottom of さ bulges to the left; the curve of ち bulges to the right, like a 5. |
| き / さ | ki / sa | き has two horizontal strokes, さ has one. |
| は / ほ | ha / ho | ほ has two horizontal strokes on its right side, は has one. |
| い / り | i / ri | In い the right stroke is the shorter one; in り it is longer and runs down below the left stroke. |
If a pair keeps coming back on your result screen, retry only those characters a few times, then write each one out by hand.
Frequently asked questions
How many hiragana are there?
There are 46 basic hiragana. Adding the two small marks called dakuten (゛) and handakuten (゜) gives 25 more (が, ざ, だ, ば and ぱ rows), and a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ after an i-column character makes 33 yōon combinations such as きゃ and しょ. This quiz covers all three sets, 104 sounds in total.
How long does it take to learn hiragana?
It depends on how often you practice. Short daily rounds that retry the characters you miss work better than one long session. A structured course such as Kana Challenge teaches hiragana over its first 14 days, five new characters a day. A 20-question round of this quiz takes two or three minutes.
Should I pick answers or type the romaji?
Picking from four answers is easier and lets you learn while you test, so start there. Typing is the real test, because you have to recall the sound with no hints. Switch to typing once you score about 90% on picking.
Which romaji spellings does the quiz accept?
Both common systems: shi or si for し, chi or ti for ち, tsu or tu for つ, fu or hu for ふ, ji or zi for じ, wo or o for を, and n or nn for ん. ぢ and づ accept ji, di, zu and du. Yōon accept sha or sya, cha or tya, ja, jya or zya, and so on.
Why do ぢ and じ (or づ and ず) have the same answer?
In modern standard Japanese they sound the same: ぢ like じ (ji) and づ like ず (zu). ぢ and づ appear in only a few words, such as はなぢ (nosebleed) and つづく (to continue).