Hiragana quiz

More questions about Hiragana

These visible examples show the question style. LearnClash turns the full topic into ranked duels and spaced repetition.

1. 1 Hard

   How many times does each Hiragana character appear in the famous Iroha poem?

   Answer: Exactly once

   Why: Each of its 47 kana appears exactly once, but the set is Heian era: archaic wi and we are in, and the n kana is missing.

2. 2 Easy

   Which small character is used to write contracted sounds like "sha"?

   Answer: Small ya

   Why: Contracted sounds, or yōon, combine a consonant with a tiny version of ya, yu, or yo.

3. 3 Medium

   What phonetic effect does the small "tsu" character create?

   Answer: A double consonant pause

   Why: Called the sokuon, っ adds one full beat to the next consonant, which is why kite means come but kitte means postage stamp.

4. 4 Easy

   Which diacritic mark changes the Hiragana "ha" into "ba"?

   Answer: Dakuten

   Why: The handakuten, the small circle that gives pa instead of ba, was introduced by Portuguese Jesuits to write the p sound.

5. 5 Easy

   How many basic, non-diacritic characters make up the modern Hiragana syllabary?

   Answer: 46

   Why: Japan's 1946 kana spelling reform retired ゐ (wi) and ゑ (we), so modern hiragana has 46 characters, not 48.

6. 6 Easy

   What shape does the handakuten diacritic mark take in printed Japanese?

   Answer: Small circle

   Why: Nicknamed "maru", it is drawn like a degree sign and sits in the top right corner of the kana it modifies.