Lesson 12 of 16
Voiced sounds: D and B
Same rule again: t becomes d and h becomes b. ぢ and づ sound identical to じ and ず and are rare, so you'll mostly read them in a few words.
Pronunciation
How it sounds
d and b are voiced like g and z: put your fingertips on your throat to feel the buzz. だ, で, ど are da, de, do, and ば, び, ぶ, べ, ぼ are ba, bi, bu, be, bo. ぢ and づ sound exactly like じ and ず.
Reading tips
Easy to mix up
ぢ and づ are rare. Words like つづく (tsuzuku, “to continue”) are why they exist, but じ and ず cover nearly everything else.
は and ば (and ほ and ぼ) differ only by the two marks, so read the top right corner every time.
た with two dots: da.
ち with two dots: ji, same sound as じ and used rarely.
つ with two dots: zu, same sound as ず and used rarely.
て with two dots: de.
と with two dots: do.
は with two dots: ba.
ひ with two dots: bi.
ふ with two dots: bu.
へ with two dots: be.
ほ with two dots: bo.
Real vocabulary
Words you can read now
ともだち
tomodachi
friend
からだ
karada
body
ことば
kotoba
word, language
どこ
doko
where
べんとう
bentō
boxed lunch
ぶた
buta
pig